


Even the Stars Wouldn't Listen

by harrysthirdghost



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Fake/Pretend Relationship, Football | Soccer Player Louis Tomlinson, Friends to Lovers, Harry Styles Loves Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne & Harry Styles Friendship, Louis Tomlinson Calls Harry Styles Pet Names, Louis Tomlinson Loves Harry Styles, M/M, Musician Niall Horan, Niall Horan & Harry Styles Friendship, Slow Burn, Soft Harry Styles, Zayn Malik & Louis Tomlinson Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-11
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:02:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 30,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27502006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/harrysthirdghost/pseuds/harrysthirdghost
Summary: 28 year old Louis Tomlinson and 26 year old Harry Styles live together. When Louis finds himself in a weird situation, he turns to his flatmate and best friend Harry, and the two of them begin a fake relationship. The rules between them are simple: No lying or withholding information from each other, no telling anyone else about their plan, and the third, most important one: No falling in love.
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik/Liam Payne
Comments: 14
Kudos: 120





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Harry misses Louis. Louis comes home.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry misses Louis. Louis comes home.

Harry hates when Louis goes away on his trips. 

Louis plays for Manchester United with his lucky number, 28, and he travels a lot during game season. Most of his trips last at least a week, and they happen pretty frequently.

Harry and Louis have been living together for the past 5 years, ever since Harry graduated from uni, and it’s quiet moments like this one that make Harry realize just how much he misses having his best friend’s loud and fun demeanor around the flat.

Their flat was pretty simple, with two bedrooms, one bathroom, a small kitchen connected to an open area with a table, which is what they call the dining room, and their living room. The living room is where they spend most of their time, because it’s got the tv, couch, and all of their gaming consoles.

Harry is currently sitting on the couch, with his feet up on the coffee table that sits in the center of the room. The tv is turned on in front of him, but he’s not paying much attention to it. He had just finished watching The Notebook (which was one of Harry’s favorites, but he would never admit that), and now some other random action movie was playing. He thinks the main guy might be Daniel Craig, but then again he doesn’t really care for those kinds of movies.

Harry checks his watch, which lies on his left wrist, crossing over a tattoo. He has quite a few tattoos, but not nearly as many as Louis. 

Back in uni, Louis took Harry to get his first tattoo. Harry was nervous, but Louis insisted he would be fine. Of course, Louis was right. He’s always right. Harry rolls his eyes, laughing a bit at the idea of Louis knowing Harry thought that.

It was only 3:01 pm, so Harry just sighed and let his head fall back onto the couch cushion behind him.

He was extremely bored, because his two best friends, Niall and Liam were busy today, and Louis was away.

He could always call Zayn, but Harry’s only ever really hung out with Zayn while Louis was with them. He considers calling him, because maybe they should get a little closer.

Just as he goes to get up off the couch, his phone rings on the kitchen counter.

He looks at the name on the screen and smiles before answering.

“God, I cannot wait to sleep in my own bed tomorrow night.”

Harry laughs slightly, because whenever Louis calls Harry, he is always the first one to talk, and he always starts as if they had been having a conversation the whole time.

“Wait, are you coming home tomorrow?”

Harry obviously knew the answer to this, but it was always fun to piss Louis off a bit.

Harry couldn’t help but laugh a little bit as the other end went quiet, Louis clearly annoyed with his friend.

“Not funny, Haz.”

“It was a little funny.” Harry is fully laughing now. He has always found himself hilarious, even when other people didn’t. 

The line is silent as Harry calms himself down, and he just knows that Louis is pouting on the other end.

“Lou calm down it was a joke, stop pouting.”

“What? I’m not pouting.” Louis says defensively.

Harry just stays silent as he gives a skeptical look, raising his left eyebrow. He knows Louis can’t see him, but can still tell what face he is making.

“Alright fine, I might be pouting. Put that face away.”

Harry smiles, satisfied, and the two engage in mindless conversation for the next twenty minutes, before Louis has to get back to practice. He has a game tonight, and then he’s hopping on a plane first thing in the morning and coming back home.

“Haz, I gotta go to practice now,” it’s almost as if Louis can see Harry’s face, because before Harry can say anything, Louis says, “Stop frowning, you’re gonna make me sad.”

Harry laughs a little at this and says, “Fine, go. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

At that last part, Harry can’t help but feel extremely excited. When Louis answers him, Harry can pretty much hear his smile through the phone.

“Can’t wait. Bye!” 

Harry is still smiling as he hangs up and puts his phone down on the table.

He misses his best friend so much.

:::

Louis had gotten a flight back to Doncaster, where the flat is, at 4:47 am. 

This meant he never really went to bed the night before, just showered after practice and got an hour or two of sleep before he had to wake up again. 

He knew he would sleep on the plane, but he still didn’t want to be grumpy when he saw Harry for the first time in weeks.

Louis would like to think he’s a pretty independent person. He was forced to be mature at a pretty young age because he was the oldest and was always taking care of his younger sisters. For some reason though, Louis cannot be apart from Harry for more than two weeks.

Whether it meant Louis came home, or Harry came to one of Louis’ games, the two of them had never been apart for more than two weeks. 

Louis had been in New York for a game, and he had gotten on the eight hour flight early in the morning.

Although he was extremely excited, it did not take much for Louis to fall asleep. In fact, it took a total of about 15 minutes for him to get situated in his seat and fall asleep. 

About 4 hours into the flight, the plane had hit some turbulence and Louis was jolted awake. He had fallen asleep in an awkward position, so he had a little stiffness in his neck. 

It was now almost 9:00 am, and there was just under half the flight left. 

Louis decided to look at the movie selection on the screen in front of him. His teammate, Stan, had also fallen asleep next to him, but he had some cartoon Louis didn’t recognize on the screen.

Louis and Stan had been distant friends in high school, with only one or two classes together. They found themselves on the same team years later, and became extremely close immediately. Luckily for Louis, Stan lived near him and Harry, so he got the same flight as Louis.

Louis laughed at his friend sleeping with his mouth half-opened and eyes half closed.

He turned back to his screen to swipe through the movies, when he landed on one that made him smile.

He would never watch The Notebook on his own, but he knows it’s Harry’s favorite movie. Harry would never admit to this, but Louis knows.

Louis just smiled and turned the screen off, thinking he should probably get some more sleep so he won’t be in a pissy mood for Harry.

:::

Harry was running a little late, which was not unusual, but he really didn’t want to be late today.

He was currently running from his car that he had just parked to go pick up Louis at the airport.

It was just after 8:00 am in Doncaster, and Louis had just texted Harry that his flight had landed. Harry was thankful for this, because he had always had a hard time with all of the time differences, and he didn’t really know what time he should be at the airport.

Harry walked through the airport doors and went to wait by the rest of the people by the door where the people from the plane got out.

As people began to exit the door, Harry grew antsy, just wanting Louis to get here already. He texted Louis saying he was waiting, just to let him know.

A minute later, Louis walks out of the door, laughing with Stan. He doesn’t see Harry yet, but as his eyes scan the crowd, Harry yells out his name.

“Lou!”

Louis smiles at the sound of his best friend’s voice as he turns to face it. He says goodbye to Stan, who had just spotted his girlfriend. They both nod at each other and part ways.

Louis turns his wide smile to Harry, whose smile is just as wide as Louis’.

He takes that moment to sprint at Harry, and tackle him in a hug. Harry seems ready for it though, because he only falters back one or two steps, catching Louis.

Harry laughs at his best friend, but only for a second before saying, “I knew you were gonna do that.”

Louis smiles even wider, if it’s possible, and says “And I knew you were gonna be late, so I took a longer time getting off the plane.”

They laugh at each other, and at how well the two know one another.

They break apart and Harry wraps an arm around Louis’ shoulders, as Louis snakes his arm around Harry’s waist.

Louis used to be taller than Harry in high school, but the second Harry turned 17 he just shot up. Louis has always been rather short, to his dismay, but it did not  
help that his best friend was a fucking giant.

“Do you wanna see the guys?” Harry asks.

“Absolutely.” Louis answers, “But, I’m starving and I want you to make me something.”

Harry rolls his eyes, and Louis interrupts by saying, “I mean, I could just do it-”

“No!” Harry almost yells, and Louis laughs.

It’s not exactly a secret that Harry is better in the kitchen than Louis. The first and only time Louis had made a meal, it was with Harry, the first week they lived  
together. It was some chicken dish that was way too complicated for Louis, and of course he managed to fuck it all up within 5 minutes. Harry didn’t bother him about it though, just started from scratch and didn’t mention it again. Louis appreciated that, and ever since then Harry has been the house cook.

“Fine then. What are you making me?” Louis says, still smiling.

Harry seemed to think for a second, before smiling and answering, “I don’t know, maybe some chicken..”

Louis gasped and tried to hide his blush, because Harry had never mentioned this since then and Louis just assumed he had forgotten.

“How dare you,” Louis started, trying to sound offended, “We’ll just pick up some hashbrowns from McDonalds on the way.”

Louis pushed Harry from behind as Harry just laughed louder.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Louis sees his friends for the first time in two weeks.

Louis hadn’t seen his friends in too long.

They spend almost as much time together as a group as Harry and Louis do alone. And that’s a huge statement, because Louis and Harry never leave each other, except for when Louis is away. 

Louis was still a little tired from the flight, and he needed a little pick-me-up. That’s how him and Harry ended up on Niall’s doorstep at 9:30 am.

Looking at Niall, you would not guess that he’s an early riser, but he gets up pretty early in the morning. If he gets up later than 12:00 pm, there’s something wrong and he must immediately be checked on.

Just the thought of seeing Niall woke Louis up a little bit. He’s always felt this protective and brotherly bond with the younger blond boy.

Almost two seconds after they had knocked, the door was swung open, and Harry and Louis were greeted with an extremely wide and genuine grin from Niall. 

“Tommo! You’re back!” Niall shouted, running to Louis and wrapping him in a hug.

“Of course I am Nialler, you didn’t think I could ever leave you, did you?” Louis teases.

“Of course not, I’m too perfect” Niall says back, pretending to flip his hair. 

Louis and Harry laugh at the blond boy, and walk in as Niall leads them through the door. 

They’ve been to his flat a few times before, so Louis made himself comfortable on the couch, laying out flat, as Harry made his way to the opposite end, picking up Louis’ feet and placing them on his lap.

Niall came into the living room with two cups of tea for the pair, eyeing Harry’s action and smiling slightly.

Louis didn’t really understand, but he didn’t have time to question Niall, as a cup of hot tea was shoved into his hands.

Louis absolutely loved tea, especially the way Niall makes it. It just feels much more cozy when he makes it.

“So, how was the flight?” Niall starts.

“Pretty good,” Louis answers in between blowing on his tea to cool it. “Long.”

“I can imagine. I’ve only been to New York once, but I can’t sit still for that long.”

“Mate, you can barely sit still for thirty minutes,” Harry says, speaking for the first time since they arrived.

They all laugh at this and Niall says, “That’s fair. What can I say, I’m an active person”

“Exactly why you are the first person I requested we see after the plane. I needed a nice pick-me-up. I was tired” Louis tells Niall.

Niall beams at this and he teases Louis a bit, saying, “Aw Tommo! You missed me!”

He gets up from his seat on the big chair next to the couch and makes his way towards Louis, arms out.

“No I didn’t” Louis says, but he can’t help smiling as the younger boy bounds towards him, because he did in fact miss him.

Niall envelopes Louis in a warm and cozy hug, as Louis pretends to struggle out of the grip.

“Hug me back, you dick.” Niall says seriously, before his loud laugh is heard again.

Louis just laughs too, wrapping his arms around the boy. He opens his eyes and sees Harry looking at them with an amused look on his face. He turns back to Niall and whispers something in his ear, so Harry can’t hear.

They break away from the hug, and Louis shouts “AW HARRY!” as he lunges at the boy from one side, and Niall hugs him from the other.

They all fall into a fit of laughter, and they are all genuinely happy.

Yep, Louis definitely missed this.

:::

Harry and Louis had spent a few hours at Niall’s before he had to go out to work.

They all said their goodbyes, and that they would see each other tomorrow. As they left Niall’s flat, Louis turned to Harry and said, with a posh accent, “This is a perfect time to visit Zayn and Liam don’t you agree?”

Harry, immediately playing along, mimicked Louis’ accent and said, “I do indeed. Let’s go”

And the two of them linked arms set off to Liam’s house, laughing as they walked.

Louis and Liam had been on the same football team in uni, and he had a class with Harry that same year. Naturally, he fit right in with the two of them and Niall, and the four of them became a group. 

Louis hadn’t really seen Liam in a while, he never seemed to be available before Louis left. And because of this, Louis was even more excited to surprise his friend.

Unlike at Niall’s, it took a few minutes for someone to answer the door after Harry knocked.

To their surprise, it wasn’t Liam who opened the door. It was Zayn.

“Zayn!” Louis said excitedly. 

Louis and Zayn had been friends since high school, but he never seemed to get all that close with Harry. Louis wishes they would just get close, because they are his two best friends, and he wants them to hang out.

“What are you doing here?” Louis continues.

Zayn looks a little taken aback by Louis and Harry’s surprise visit, and he pushes his hand through his hair, which is a nervous tick he gets.

Louis recognizes this action very well, and is all of the sudden confused, because why would Zayn be nervous?

Before Louis can ask any questions, though, Liam appears in the doorway. His look turns from panicked to ecstatic in a split second. 

These panicked and flustered looks from the two of them are really confusing Louis, but he’ll ask later. Right now, he wants to hug his friends.

“Mate! Why didn’t I know you were coming home!” Liam exclaims happily, as he wraps Louis into a hug.

“That would eliminate the element of surprise Payno”

They laugh at this as Harry hugs Liam and Louis turns to Zayn.

Louis jumps into Zayn’s arms and shouts “Zaynieeeeee!”

Zayn lightly laughs at this, and Louis lowers his head to whisper in Zayn’s ear, “What’s wrong, why do you look nervous?”

Zayn stiffens a little and just whispers back, “Later.”

Louis nods in understanding, not wanting to push his friend.

“So, you gonna invite us in?” Harry says, beaming.

“Oh right, of course!” Liam laughs, “Sorry it’s a bit of a mess right now”

Louis looks around the flat, and there’s barely any mess. If this is what Liam thinks is a mess, he should never set foot in Louis’ room. 

“So,” Zayn says choosing the couch on the left as his landing place, “The flight? How was it?”

Louis and Harry land on the couch on the right, opposite Liam and Zayn on the other couch.

Louis throws his head back and groans, “Ugh, long.”

Zayn laughs lightly at him, and Louis smiles and says, “It’s okay, I slept most of it. I was gonna watch a movie, but they didn’t have anything good. They did have The Notebook though. Harry don’t you like that movie?”

Harry’s eyes went wide before they narrowed at Louis, “Yes Louis. I do.”

Louis smiles in amusement because teasing Harry is just so fun.

The two of them then turn back to Liam and Zayn who look between Harry and Louis and then back at each other.

Louis is really starting to get confused now, because why is everyone acting so weird? He’s been back for four hours and it already seems like he missed something.

He tries to change the subject by saying, “Anyway, what were you two up to while I was gone?”

“Yeah, you were always busy” Harry chimes in, pouting a little to show they had left him alone.

This makes both Zayn and Liam stiffen a little bit, and causes Zayn to blush and Liam to look away.

“Yeah, sorry about that mate, there was just a lot to do around here and at work I was swamped.”

Harry has a skeptical look on his face, but he wipes it away less than a second later, and replaces it with a smile, “Don’t worry about it”

Liam smiles slightly at this, and Louis looks at Zayn. Zayn gives him an apologetic and pleading look, that confuses Louis, but he knows he’ll ask him about it later.

It’s extremely tense in the room, and Louis is feeling a little tired, so he figures he should probably fix this awkward situation.

“Anyway,” he starts, “Just wanted to let you guys know I’m home. Actually should thank you for being here Zayn, you saved us a trip.” Zayn smiles appreciatively at his friend and Louis continues, “But we should head home now. I gotta unpack and I’m pretty tired. Plane rides are exhausting.” He says that last part a bit dramatically, to ease the tension.

It works, and Harry laughs a little, “Alright, princess” He turns back to Liam and Zayn while he gets up from the couch. “Guess we’re leaving.”

They say their goodbyes and walk out the door. The second the door closes behind them, Louis and Harry give each other a look that says everything.

That was weird. Both Louis and Harry could tell that something was up and there was something the boys aren’t telling them. 

They shrug it off, assuming they’ll know sooner or later, and walk to the car to go home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed!! Please give me your feedback, it's really helpful!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is distracted. Niall brings pizza.

The second they get in the door of the flat, Louis gasps and yells, “My couch!” before running and jumping on the couch placed in the room before him.

“Yeah, sure no worries Louis. I’ll just get your stuff.” Harry says from the doorway.

Louis seems to be tuning his friend out on purpose, so Harry just continues, “Oh, thanks Harry, you’re the best friend a guy could ever ask for! Oh, Louis, of course it’s no problem best friend!”

Louis laughs at his ridiculous friend before overdramatically sighing and getting up off the couch. He grabs his backpack, Harry grabs his suitcase, and they walk off to his room.

“I’m not unpacking this now by the way” Louis tells Harry.

“Oh, don’t I know it. You’re going to wait until I catch you stealing my clothes because you ran out of your own, and then I’m going to be the one who ends up unpacking and doing your laundry” Harry counters back.

“Exactly. You know me so well” Louis pats Harry on the back and heads to the couch.

Harry just sighs, and leaves the bags because if he’s being honest, he doesn’t want to deal with them either. 

He turns around and walks towards Louis, who has his eyes closed as he lies on the couch. Harry can’t help but seize this opportunity, so he quietly sneaks up on Louis, trying to contain his laughter, and jumps on him screaming.

Louis startles, yelling back at Harry “What the fuck Harry!? You gave me a heart attack man”

Harry can’t contain his laughter anymore, and his loud laugh breaks the silence that had preceded his attack.

Louis tries to give Harry a stern and serious look, but the booming and cheerful laughter coming from his friend never fails to make him smile.

“Get off me,” Louis says as he tries to sound serious.

“No, you’ve been gone for two weeks you do not get to sleep on me now. We are having fun”

“But I’m tired,” Louis whines in a childish way, in hopes that Harry will let him sleep.

“Nope. Get up.”

Louis groans as Harry gets off of him and pulls his hands so he is now standing.

“And what exactly are we going to do?” Louis dares to ask.

Harry seems to think about this for a second, and Louis sees that his friend actually has nothing planned, so he decides to take advantage of the situation.

“Harold.” Louis starts, sitting back down on the couch, despite Harry’s protests, “Just cuddle with me on the couch. Can we not go out tonight? Clueless is on,” Louis adds in that last part as a bribe, because he knows Harry can’t deny Clueless.

Harry finally gives in after a few more minutes of bribes from Louis, but only on the conditions that Louis gets them pizza. Louis happily agrees to this condition, and gets up to find the phone.

:::

The boys are halfway through the movie when they get a knock on their door.

Harry clasps his hands together and Louis gasps, “Finally!”

Louis gets up and goes to the door with money, expecting the pizza delivery guy. To his surprise, it’s Niall holding a pizza.

“Ni? What are you doing here and why do you have my pizza?” Louis asks.

A second later, Harry is by Louis’ side, interrupting with, “Our pizza.”

Harry shoots Louis a look and grabs the pizza out of Niall’s hands with a smile.

Niall laughs at the two of them, and Louis invites him in. The three of them sit on the couch together, having abandoned the rest of the movie. They eat pizza and just catch up, talking about the last two weeks.

Louis told Niall and Harry about his games and all about New York City, and Niall told them all the gossip from work. Apparently there’s a lot that goes on in the kitchen of a restaurant.

Niall was working as a waiter at this fancy Italian restaurant in town to make some money while he looked for gigs. He was an aspiring artist, as he liked to call it. He pretty much wrote songs and got gigs at bars where he would sing with his guitar. Louis loved going to his gigs.

“I actually have one later this week if you wanna come,” Niall tells Louis.

“Um, yes of course! We’ll be there” Louis says, gesturing to him and Harry.

Niall smiles wide, and says, “Perfect! It’s Friday at 8 at the pub on the corner.”

“Perfect, we wouldn’t miss it,” Harry assures his blond friend.

Louis’ mind wanders for a second, back to his visit to Liam’s earlier. He doesn’t want to be nosy, because he feels like Zayn will tell him sooner or later if it was a big deal, but he can’t help it as his curiosity gets the best of him.

“Hey, Ni,” he starts, “Have you seen much of Liam or Zayn these two weeks?”

Niall seems to think about it before saying, “Eh, maybe like once or twice, but I was super busy at the restaurant and writing.”

Louis turns this idea over in his head, when he’s nudged by Harry.

“What are you thinking?”

“I’m just confused.” Louis pauses before continuing, “Do you think they’re together and just not telling us?” he suggests.

It looks like a light goes off in Niall’s brain, and he suddenly looks excited.

“Mate, that would be sick! Imagine, two of us secretly in a relationship. I could so see it, too” Niall says, now nodding to himself as he is tuning a guitar he somehow materialized out of thin air. 

Louis never thought about it before, but now that he is, he could definitely see that happening. He’s a little hurt that Zayn didn’t tell him, but maybe it’s new and happened while Louis was away. Still, he can’t help but silently applaud Zayn. Listen, it’s not like he’s into him or anything, but Louis can’t deny that Liam is pretty easy on the eyes.

The three of them, mostly Louis and Niall, talk about what it’ll be like with a couple in their group. At one point, Louis looks over at Harry, who seems distracted by something. When Niall gets up to get another beer, Louis nudges him with his shoulder.

“Hello. Earth to Styles.”

“Huh? Oh, sorry”

Louis is a little confused at the startled look on his flatmate’s face, and he makes a mental note to ask him about it later.

:::

Niall leaves the flat a few hours later, and Louis is completely wiped.

He just wants to go to bed, so he leaves Harry to clean up the remains of their dinner and heads to the shower.

When he gets out and gets into bed for the night, he sees he has a missed call from Zayn. He picks up his phone and calls back.

Zayn answers after three rings, “Hey mate.”

“What’s up?”

“Do you think you can hang tomorrow? Haven’t seen you in forever and today was weird.”

Louis laughs a little before saying, “Yes it was. And yeah, I’m free all day, wanna get lunch or summat?”

“Yes. Perfect. I’ll swing by around 12?”

“Sounds good.”

“Oh, and Louis?”

Louis hums in response, because he’s too tired to say anything else.

“Glad you’re home”

“Glad to be home Zaynie. See you tomorrow.”  
“Okay. Night Lou.”

“Night,” Louis says before he hangs up.

He’s excited to see Zayn tomorrow. Maybe he can ask him about Liam.

He puts down his phone, and turns off the lamp by his bed, hoping to get some sleep. He’ll worry about Zayn and Liam tomorrow.

:::

It’s 3:01 in the morning when Louis hears his door creak open.

He sees the dark silhouette of Harry peeking his head through the crack in the door.

“Yes, Harold?”

“I had a bad dream.”

“Harry, you’re 26.”

“Does that mean I’m not allowed to have a bad dream? It was scary Lou.”

Louis lets his head fall on his pillow and sighs, “Ugh fine. C’mere.”

He opens his arms and Harry rushes towards him, climbing into bed. He turns his back to Louis, and Louis drapes his arm over Harry’s waist, spooning him.

After a few moments of silence, Louis finally thinks Harry has gone to sleep. He begins to detangle himself from the younger boy, but Harry grabs his arm and groans in protest.

“Harry,” Louis starts.

“Lou,” Harry starts, setting up a question.

Louis gives up resisting against Harry, and lets himself fall back into their spooning position, with Harry in front of him.

“Yes, Curly?”

“Did you miss me?”

And it sounds so innocent and genuine that it actually makes Louis’ breath hitch, taking him by surprise.

“Harry, of course I missed you. You’re my best friend. Besides, Stan wouldn’t spoon with me, I had to come back” He says that last part a little teasingly, hoping it would ease Harry’s thoughts.

Harry has always been a little socially awkward, and Louis has always been the one to help him out of his shell. It wasn’t until this moment that Louis realized that his leaving for two weeks affected Harry.

Did he even hang out with anyone when Louis was gone? He must have, right?

Louis’ thoughts were running wild now, and he started to feel a little guilty. He needed to go to sleep, he was so tired. 

After a few minutes, Harry’s breathing had slowed, calming Louis down and drifting him off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked this one! I'm going to try to update on more of a schedule from now on, hopefully on a daily basis (if my writing keeps up).


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zayn tells Louis something. Louis realizes he has a problem.

Louis and Zayn had decided to meet up at the cafe by Louis’ flat. It was just a five minute walk for Louis, but he was hungry and wanted to get some tea in his system.

Louis absolutely loved tea. He didn’t mind coffee, but there was never a time when Louis would deny a nice hot cup of tea.

As Louis opened the door to the shop, the bells rang signaling that the door had been opened. This was a pretty normal thing in shops like this, so no one really even looked at him.

Louis pulled out his phone to shoot a text to Zayn, telling him he had arrived early and that he was going to get something to eat. 

All of the sudden he hears, “Louis?”

His head shoots up, because who would be calling his name?

As his eyes scan the crowd to find the source, his body tenses a bit when he finally finds it.

A tall and skinny girl with brown straight hair was walking over to Louis, with an extremely wide smile.

She reached out to hug him, and Louis’ arms kind of just stayed by his side, not hugging her back.

“Hey Eleanor.”

“How are you? I haven’t seen you in forever!”

Louis puts on a nice, fake smile before answering, “Oh, you know I’ve just been super busy with the team lately.”

Listen, Eleanor seemed like a nice enough girl, but she always seemed to be throwing herself at Louis, and Louis was, well, Louis was not interested. So, whenever she talked to him, he made sure to not flirt with her, or be extra nice to her because he didn’t want her to get the wrong idea.

“Oh, that’s right! Did you just get back from a game or something?” Eleanor says genuinely.

“Yeah, yeah I went away to New York for two weeks and I got back yesterday. Had to get a good English cup of tea, all the ones in America were bad.”

Eleanor laughs a little too much at this very small joke, that Louis didn’t even mean to be that funny.

“Hey, now that you’re back maybe we can meet up sometime? Get a couple drinks?” She puts her hand on Louis’ shoulder, and Louis tries his best not to cringe away from the touch.

How to get out of this? How to get out of this? 

“Uh, yeah, that sounds nice,” Louis starts, not sure where he’s taking this, “But I think you should know that I have a boyfriend.” 

'What? Why did I just say that?' Louis asks himself.

Eleanor’s hand slips from Louis’ shoulder as Louis continues in a very friendly voice, “Just thought you should know, but we can still go out and get some drinks as friends?” He offers that last part, hoping that she’ll say no.

Eleanor does not seem to be embarrassed or offended, but actually excited. Okay, Louis is confused now.

She breaks out into a huge smile and says, “Louis! Why didn’t you say anything? Who is he?”

Louis has no idea how to answer that so he just says, “Oh, it’s kind of new and we promised each other we wouldn’t say anything yet…” His sentence trails off, because he has no idea what he’s saying.

“Louis! I must meet him. Bring him out to drinks with us! Oh my gosh we’re gonna have so much fun!” Someone calls Eleanor’s name at that moment, and before she walks away she turns back to Louis and says, “I’ll text you the info! Bye!”

Crap. What did he just do?

Now Louis’ got a problem on his hands.

Where the fuck is he going to find a boyfriend in a week?

:::

By the time Louis had gotten his tea and toast, Zayn had arrived, and Louis had forgotten about his little problem with Eleanor.

“Zaynie!” Louis yelled as he hopped out of his seat to hug his mate.

Zayn laughed at Louis, and sat down in the chair opposite him.

“Hey Lou. Sorry everything was so weird yesterday I was just flustered.”

“Were you not happy to see me?” Louis teased, with an overdramatic frown painted on his face.

Zayn shoved Louis’ shoulder saying, “Get outta here. You know I was.”

Louis laughed, because yes, of course he knew Zayn was happy to see him. That was what confused Louis. He had to ask, and now was the time.

“Zayn?”

Zayn hummed in response.

“I’m going to ask you a question. And I want you to respond truthfully okay?”

Zayn straightened up in his seat a bit, but nodded.

“Promise?”

“Yeah, Lou, I promise.” Zayn responded, his eyes avoiding Louis’ and resting on his hands clasped together on the table.

“Good. Now, Liam.”

Louis knew he was right when Zayn’s eyes shot up to meet Louis’.

“I knew it. I knew it! Zayn Malik why didn’t you tell me?”

Zayn’s head immediately went to his hands as he sighed, “There’s nothing to tell really, we were just hanging out one day pretty soon after you left. I’ve kinda had a thing for him for a while, but I didn’t want to say anything-”

“What?!” Louis shouted, interrupting Liam. He had no idea.

“-because Liam had never seemed like he was ever into guys and it was just so confusing but then he kissed me, and things kinda went on from there I guess? We haven’t labeled it or anything, but I definitely like him and I’m pretty sure he likes me too.” Zayn’s embarrassed look had faded, and by the time he had finished talking, he was full on grinning.

He looked so happy, that Louis couldn’t possibly be mad at him for keeping this a secret. That didn’t mean he couldn’t play with Zayn a little though.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Louis says seriously. Maybe he should go into acting, because Zayn’s smile immediately faded and turned into a worried look.

“I- um, I don’t know, I just-”

Louis burst out laughing, he couldn’t help it, Zayn looked so panicked.

“You bastard.” Zayn said quietly, a smile threatening to show on his face.

“I’m sorry, I can’t help it, you looked so scared,” Louis continued, still laughing. “Okay, okay I’m done now” Louis finished, calming himself down.

Zayn and Louis talked about Louis’ trip to New York and his games. They talked about Zayn’s upcoming art exhibit and Liam. They caught up on everything they had missed the past two weeks, and Louis was so happy to have his best friend back again. If he’s being completely honest, he was a little worried when Zayn wasn’t calling or texting while Louis was away. At least now he knows why. And it comes in the form of a tall, muscular, brown haired man.

“So, how bout you, Lou?”

“What about me? We just talked about me?”

“Oh, come off it I meant your love life.” Zayn says, like it was obvious. 

“Well, Eleanor just hit on me like an hour ago, so pretty sure I’ve got some options,” Louis joked.

“Oh c’mon Lou, it’s been forever since you’ve been in a relationship! I don’t think I’ve seen you even hook up with a guy in the past three years.”

“Hey! That’s not true,” Louis defended.

Zayn’s interest peaked, “Oh really? A New Yorker?” He said, as he cocked his left eyebrow.

“Well,” Louis started, “no, but it can’t have been three years, surely.”

Zayn deflated a little and said, “Lou, I’m telling you. Put yourself back in the game. You’re hot, you’re young, you play professional football. What guy wouldn’t want you?”

Louis seemed to ponder this for a second, and let it sink in, before realizing he still had that little problem with Eleanor. He didn’t want to lie to his best friend, they never lied to each other, but maybe it would get Zayn off his back a little. Louis didn’t really even want a boyfriend right now, he’s busy enough as is.

“I actually have a boyfriend, sir.” Louis said, instantly regretting it as he saw Zayn’s surprised look.

“Really?” Zayn said, still a little skeptical.

“Mhm” Louis started, “It’s all still pretty new and we’re just feeling it out, so I don’t know if I’d call him my boyfriend, but maybe soon.” Wow, maybe Louis seriously should consider acting. This was coming easily to him.

“No way,” Zayn started, “Who?”

Louis sighed before saying exactly what he had said to Eleanor, which was, “Well, we promised each other we wouldn’t say anything yet because it’s all new and we don’t really know what it is yet…” Louis trailed off before adding with a wink, “Just like you and Liam, eh?”

That made Zayn blush and drop the subject completely. He took a complete 180 turn and asked Louis what he was eating. Zayn was never good at transitions, but at least he tried. Louis let it drop, figuring he had enough teasing. At least for now.

All seemed good with Zayn, and he had sort of figured his problem out with Eleanor, but there was still one big thing that was on Louis’ mind.

He had now just told two people that he had a boyfriend. That, in fact, could not be any further from the truth. If Zayn was right, and it really had been three years, Louis was even lonelier than he thought. Now, all he needed to do was to find a boyfriend, or at least, someone to play the part.

That shouldn’t be that hard, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for a late update, hope you enjoyed!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zayn and Liam tell everyone. Harry and Louis make a pact. Niall is shocked.

Louis had somehow convinced Zayn to talk to Liam about telling everyone else. And by everyone else, he means Niall and Harry. Zayn was hesitant at first, because he didn’t want to pressure Liam or put a strain on their relationship, but once Louis said he wouldn’t be able to keep this a secret from Harry, seeing as they live together, Zayn caved, knowing that Louis would tell Harry as soon as he could.

That is how the five of them ended up on Louis and Harry’s couch one sunny afternoon.

“So,” Niall started, “Someone wanna tell me why we’re all just sitting in silence?”

Louis looked at Zayn, who looked at Liam, who looked a bit freaked out.

“Zayn?” Louis started.

“Yeah,” Zayn began, nudging Liam. “We have something to tell you all, and we figured it would be easier to tell you all at once.”

“Um,” Liam started, speaking for the first time since he arrived, “Yeah, so, we’re dating?” He said, as if it were a question, looking at Zayn.

Zayn blushed and Liam put his head in his hands, and Louis couldn’t help but laugh at how awkward this whole situation was.

It was a bit silent for a few moments before, “No fucking way” came from Niall.

Zayn and Liam both shot their eyes to the Irish boy, who had the biggest smile on his face. 

“That’s bloody _brilliant!_ Why didn’t I know that?” He turns to Louis and Harry, “Did you two know that?”

Harry shakes his head and shrugs, as Louis just smirks. Harry gasps at Louis and Niall shoves his shoulder.

“You twat! And you didn’t say anything?” Niall shouts at Louis.

“Oi! To be fair, I found out only yesterday.” Louis shoots back at the blonde boy.

“I can’t believe you, how could you keep this from us?” Niall asks dramatically.

Everyone laughs, and any tension in the room has vanished. They immediately ask for details about the relationship, like how long has it been going on? and how did it happen?

“I mean, I don’t really know how it started to be honest,” Zayn said after the outburst of questions from his friends.

“Yeah, I think we were supposed to hang out together one day,” Liam continued, pointing to himself, Zayn, and Niall, “And for some reason you cancelled, Niall.”

“And then we just kinda hung out together and got to know each other more?” Zayn said as if it were a question. “And then we got really close right before you went away, Lou”

“Is that why you two were never around before I left?” Louis asks, and Liam and Zayn both blush and nod. “You twats, you shoulda told us then! Thought you were avoiding me,” Louis playfully shoves Liam shoulder and winks at Zayn to show that he is just fucking with them.

The two of them laugh a little nervously and look at each other, visibly more relaxed, relieved that their news had gone over well.

“Wait a sec,” Niall starts, “You lot were supposed to hang out with me that day?”

“Mhm,” Zayn answers, “You cancelled cause you had some writing or something?”

“Shit. So you could say my flakiness caused this” Niall says, gesturing between Liam and Zayn.

“I mean, yeah pretty much” Liam says, shrugging.

“Well then, you’re fucking welcome!” Niall laughs, putting his feet up on the coffee table and leaning back.

Zayn laughs at him and Louis grabs the pillow from behind his back and smacks Niall in the face with it. Harry, who hasn’t said anything this whole time, grabs Louis around the waist and holds him back, as he is starting a pillow fight with Niall.

“Haz! Let me go!” Louis shouts, laughing extremely hard and thrashing in Harry’s grip, to get to Niall, who is running away to hide behind Liam.

“No, Lou I do not condone this violence.”

“Fine! Fine, I’ll stop.” Louis says putting the pillow on his lap, and sinking into Harry’s chest, Harry’s arms still around him.

It gets strangely quiet in the room, and Niall, having never been one for subtlety, says, “Okay, what the fuck? Are you two dating too or something? Because I wasn’t going to say anything and make it all weird, but you two are acting very coupley. Plus, you don’t seem to be complaining about being lonely that much anymore, Lou.”

_What?_ Louis thinks. _Wait, did he just say coupley?_

“Wait,” Zayn starts, “That actually makes a lot of sense, Nialler.”

_What? What is going on right now?_

Louis untangles himself from Harry’s arms, which have now stiffened a little bit, an indicator that Harry is uncomfortable with the conversation taking place.

Zayn must have seen the confused or shocked look on Louis’ face, because he continues, “I don’t know, Lou. You guys are just very touchy and domestic these days, I just can’t help but wonder? Plus, you did tell me you have a boyfriend.”

“Besides,” Liam chimes in, “Zayn and I would know the signs of a hidden relationship wouldn’t we?”

Louis knows that Liam is just trying to diffuse some of the tension that had risen in the room, but Louis was so shocked, he couldn’t laugh.

“And,” Liam decides to continue, “We hadn’t seen Harry the entire two weeks you were gone. You seemed miserable, H.”

Everyone is looking at Harry now, and he’s kind of folding under the spotlight. He gives a panicked look to Louis, one Louis recognizes very well. In this situation, Louis would typically change subjects, but he’s stuck on something.

He told both Eleanor and Zayn earlier that he had a boyfriend when he didn’t. His friends thought he was dating Harry. So that should mean that he and Harry can pull off looking like a couple, right?

A lightbulb goes off in Louis’ head: He can solve both of his problems right here and now. He just needs Harry to get on board.

While his friends continue listing reasons they think Harry and Louis are dating, Louis turns to Harry and whispers, “You trust me right?” When Harry nods, Louis continues, “Then can you please just go along with what I’m about to do and I’ll explain later?” Harry nods again, still a little stiff and overwhelmed.

Louis takes this as his green light and interrupts the other boys’ conversation.

“Fine!” He yells, “You caught us. We wanted to keep it under wraps because we weren’t sure what was actually going on and it is extremely new, but yeah. I guess you could say we’re dating?”

Harry’s eyes widened even more, and Niall’s smile grew wider.

“What did I fucking say, lads!?” Niall shouts.

“Holy shit,” Liam says.

“Lou, I can’t believe it! _Harry_ is the guy you’ve been dating?” Zayn finally says to Louis, a huge smile present on his face.

“Yeah, like I said, it’s really new.” Louis shrugs.

Now, Niall has come over to the couch and tackled Harry into a hug. All Harry can do is smile and laugh and hug Niall back, until the rest of the boys leave and Louis can explain why the _fuck_ he did what he just did. 

:::

Louis and Harry had eventually gotten everyone out the door, with Zayn and Liam holding hands, and Niall complaining about how lonely he is and how he’s going to be a fifth wheel.

Louis laughs and shakes his head at his friends as he shuts the door. He takes a deep breath and turns around, knowing what he’s going to have to do now. He sees Harry, with his hands clasped together, looking extremely small. He looks completely overwhelmed, and Louis knows he needs to explain himself right now, so his best friend stops looking so stressed.

“First,” Louis starts, walking up to Harry and sitting on the couch, gesturing for Harry to join him. “I am sorry I just sprung this on you without discussing it. I had this conversation with Eleanor today and- wait you remember Eleanor right?”

“That skinny girl who’s always flirting with you?” Harry says as he cocks one eyebrow.

Louis chuckles at that, “Yeah. Anyway, she came up to me in the coffeeshop this morning, flirting with me per usual, and asked to get drinks. And I told her I couldn’t because I had a boyfriend, which you know is not true, but she told me to bring him along, and she texted me the details, and I feel kind of bad just not showing up.”

“Okay,” Harry says, still clearly confused. “So what does that have to do with anything?”

“So,” Louis continues. “Then, the guys said they thought we looked coupley, and I just figured that if I said we were dating, that would get them off of our backs and also solve my problem with Eleanor? Plus, I also maybe accidentally told Zayn I had a boyfriend?” Louis smiles, unsure how Harry will receive this. 

Harry rubs his temples, trying to comprehend this whole messy situation.

“Okay,” he starts, “So, you want us to be in a fake relationship?” He asks Louis.

“Yes! Exactly that.” Louis says, still trying to read Harry’s expression. “Is that okay? We can always do it for a short amount of time and ‘break up’ if it doesn’t work, you know?”

“Yeah,” Harry starts, uncertain. “But we’ll need rules for this Lou. I need some kind of structure or outline for this kind of thing.”

Louis laughs a little at Harry, because that’s kind of cute actually.

“Yes. Of course.” Louis says, clearing his throat and pulling a napkin and a pen off of the table in front of him. “So, rule number one.”

“Maybe, no lying to each other?” Harry offers, “Or you know, withholding information from each other? Because, I mean, I kind of need to know some stuff if we want people to believe we’re in a relationship.”

“Yes,” Louis agrees, “That’s smart.” He writes the rule down on the napkin, and brings the pen up to his chin as he thinks. “For rule number two, maybe it’s that we can’t tell anyone about this? I feel like that would just end up making us both look stupid.”

“I definitely agree with that. It would be too humiliating for the both of us,” Harry says.

Louis writes down the second rule, before realizing how seriously the two of them are taking this. Together, the two of them have never been serious about anything. Louis decides to diffuse some of the tension in the room as he puts his arm on the cushion behind him, striking a pose. He puts a nice smouldering look on his face as he says, “Rule number three: you can’t fall in love with me. I know, it’ll be hard considering the fact that I’m pretty irresistible.”

Harry just laughs and shoves Louis back as he says, “Shut up you jackass. Fine. ‘no falling in love’ is our third rule because I’m pretty charming myself.” 

“That you are, Harold. That you are”

Louis finishes writing the three rules down on the napkin, and holds it up for the two of them to see.

“So, what do we think?” Louis says.

Harry grabs the pen and draws two lines on the bottom of the napkin. He signs one of them and holds out the pen for Louis. Louis laughs at him, but takes the pen and signs on the other line.

“Pleasure doing business with you, sir” Harry says, as he holds out his hand for Louis to shake.

“And you as well, Harold.” Louis shakes Harry’s offered hand, and the two break into loud laughter.

This shouldn’t be too hard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 200 hits! Thank you all so much and I hope you're liking it!!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Louis and Harry meet up with Eleanor.

Louis had agreed to meet Eleanor for drinks, with Harry, the next day, which was Wednesday night.

Louis can definitely think of a few better ways to spend a Wednesday night, but if he’s being honest with himself, he probably would have just been at home with Harry anyway. They don’t really go out all that much anymore. Only with the guys, but now Zayn and Liam are going on dates, and Niall’s gig is coming up on Friday, so none of them are ever free.

Louis is extremely excited for Niall’s gig, probably even more so than Niall. Louis hasn’t been able to go to the last two gigs of Niall’s, and he would like to pride himself on the fact that he’s Niall’s biggest fan, so he wants to make up for it. 

But before that, he has to get through tonight.

“Harry! It’s 8:23! We’re supposed to meet her at 8:30!” Louis screamed across the flat.

“Calm down, Lou!” Harry answers, still in his room, “It’s just at the end of the block, we’ll make it!”

Louis sighs, and sits down on the chair by the door. Why does Harry take so long to get ready?

Since it was a Wednesday and Harry and Eleanor had work tomorrow, drinks really meant tea and coffee at their local cafe. 

As the minutes passed, and Harry started getting his shit together, Louis remembered that this was supposed to be a date. They were supposed to be boyfriends tonight. Why hadn’t it occurred to him that she would probably ask them questions about their relationship? 

“Harold!” Louis screamed.

“Goddammit Lewis, what!?” Harry shouted back, as he walked into the room.

Louis shook his head at the nickname and said, “Eleanor is probably gonna ask us all of those basic couple questions. We need answers.”

Harry nodded his head in realization, like he hadn’t thought of that either.

“Okay,” Harry started, “So, like what?”

“Maybe like, our anniversary?”

“Okay, yeah that might be important.” Harry says, pulling out his phone to open the calendar app.

Louis shakes his head fondly at the man and says, “A calendar, Harold? Do you really need a calendar?”

“Hey! This will make it more realistic, don’t judge me.”

Louis laughs at his friend because he’s so weird. Not weird in a bad way of course, weird in a cute way if that makes sense.

“Okay,” Harry says, jolting Louis out of his thoughts, “How about here? September 28th?”

“Why that day?”

“Well,” Harry starts, setting up a well thought out explanation, “That would place the beginning of our relationship about a week before you left for New York, which would explain my hibernation for those two weeks, and still make us a little less than a month in, which is new, and why we didn’t say anything?”

Louis is impressed, the calendar actually did help.

“Okay,” He says, trying not to sound impressed in front of Harry, “September 28th is perfect.” 

“Great.” Harry says, “Now, hurry up we don’t have all night.”

Louis laughs at this, and opens the door for Harry, following him out and locking it behind them.

:::

It was mid-October, and it was rainy and cold outside as Harry and Louis walked towards the cafe, where they were meeting Eleanor. 

Louis was kind of hoping she wouldn’t show, because he really didn’t know how to act like a couple with Harry. He was afraid they wouldn’t be convincing enough. But then again, they did fool their best friends, didn’t they? This was going to work.

As they neared the entrance of the cafe, Louis looked over at Harry’s face. He seemed nervous, so Louis stopped him before opening the door and grabbed Harry by the shoulders. 

“Harry,” Louis looked right into Harry’s eyes, which Louis noticed were very green today. “This is going to work. We even fooled Niall, Liam, and Zayn for god’s sake! Don’t worry about it.”

This seemed to ease Harry’s nerves slightly, but he still looked tense and on edge. Louis knew Harry didn’t do well in social situations, so he figured he would try to make him as comfortable as possible in this awkward situation.

Louis walked ahead of Harry, pulling the door open and letting him go in first. A rush of warm air hit them as soon as they entered, and they decided to sit at a table in the back corner, waiting for Eleanor. About a minute later, she walked through the door and straight over to them, a big smile plastered on her face.

“Hi!” She said, taking off her long brown jacket and placing it on the back of her chair. “You must be the boyfriend?” She offered her hand and Harry took it, smiling.

Eleanor then sat down and looked at Louis, “Louis,” She greeted, giving him a nod as if to say _nice._

“So,” Louis started, “How have you been, El? It’s been a few days.”

“Oh, you know just had a shoot with a friend of mine yesterday, but other than that, I haven’t really been doing much.” 

Harry doesn’t seem to be relaxing. Louis notices this and grabs the hand that had been fidgeting with his jeans under the table and holds it. This wasn’t a new thing, Louis did this often with Harry. Whenever Harry was stressed or anxious, he fidgeted. Whether it be with his clothes, his hair, or even his other fingers, Louis found that it was better to just quiet his fingers, and hold them still. So, without thinking, that is what Louis did in the moment.

Eleanor seemed to take notice of their holding hands, and smiled a bit.

“So, how did this happen? I want to hear everything.” Eleanor smiled and leaned forward on the table, resting her chin in her hands.

Louis and Harry exchanged a look, with the silent confirmation that Louis would be doing the talking. 

“I mean,” Louis starts, knowing he is about to make a story up and just hoping it sounds convincing. “We’ve known each other for a while, been friends since uni.” At least that much was true. “We started living together straight out of uni, and I guess over time, we realized we had feelings for each other?” Louis tried his hardest not to cringe, because it sounded so cheesy and cliche. It also didn’t help that he could see Harry in his peripheral view, trying not to laugh at him.

Eleanor seemed convinced though, looking at them as if it was the most adorable story she’s ever heard. 

“Aw, I absolutely adore that.” Eleanor has her hands clasped together, with her elbows on the table, and hands by her face. “So, when did this happen?”

Louis looked at Harry, who smiled, because this one was easy.

“September 28th.” Harry said, still looking at Louis and smiling. Louis rolled his eyes, trying to contain his smile but failing. Of course, the stupid calendar came in handy.

“Wow, so it really is super recent then?” Eleanor asked Louis. Louis, in return, simply nodded his head.

Eleanor turned back to Harry and asked him, “So, did you miss him while he was away?”

Louis turned to Harry, worried that he would freeze up, but surprisingly, he didn’t.

“Oh, yes a thousand percent.” Harry says to Eleanor, before turning his head to Louis and leaning it on his shoulder. “I was so bored, without you Lou.” 

Louis laughs at Harry, and Eleanor says, “Alright, alright, I guess I was asking for the PDA with the question, but cool it won’t you?” She says it with a smile, so they know she’s playing with them, but Louis can’t help but think.

They do make a convincing couple, don’t they?

:::

Sometimes, Louis forgets that he and Harry are in a fake relationship. They just act how they normally do, and Louis guesses that works. So, when they were shopping for groceries, they did not expect to run into Stan, Louis’ teammate.

“Tommo!” Louis and Harry hear as they are about to turn down the cereal aisle. 

Louis turns to see Stan, who he would consider one of his best friends. Naturally, he is ecstatic to see him, and a huge smile grows on his face.

“Stan!” Louis says back, grabbing Harry by the hand to make sure he doesn’t try and escape. 

Stan notices, and gives Louis a knowing smile. 

“So,” Stan starts, “I heard from a little birdie who might go by the name Eleanor that you two are dating?”

Louis freezes, he was really hoping this news wasn’t going to get out. He didn’t want to have to keep lying to those he cared about the most. He was already lying to Eleanor, and his three best friends. Not to mention, he was also kind of making Harry lie to his three best friends as well. Shit, Louis should have just kept his goddamn mouth shut and just owned up to the fact that he’s lonely.

“Lou?” Stan asks, pulling Louis out of his thoughts.

“Huh? Sorry.” Louis says, having missed the question.

“I can’t believe you failed to mention this while we were spending a whole two weeks in another country together?” Stan says, and he seems to be joking, but Louis can tell he is also a little hurt.

That makes Louis want to cringe a little, but he holds it in and just offers a smile to his teammate.

“Sorry, mate it was just really new I guess.” Louis offers, hoping it will be convincing enough.

This seems to be okay with Stan though, as he smirks and says, “Oh, I see. Wanted to keep up your little mysterious bad boy image for me?”

Louis almost chokes as he has to contain the laughter threatening to come out of his mouth. He can also see Harry smiling a bit, enjoying this a bit too much.

“Oh yeah, Stan. You know I’m all about the mystery.” Louis says, playing along.

This makes Stan, smile and laugh a bit. He turns to Harry, and smiles. Stan and Harry have met before, but they don’t really know each other. They’ve only briefly talked when Harry comes to Louis’ games, and Stan has come to one or two of Louis’ parties before. So, it doesn’t come as a shock to Louis when Stan gives Harry a nod and says, “Harold,” which makes Louis laugh and grip Harry’s hand a bit tighter.

Harry squeezes Louis’ hand back, a sign of gratitude, that Louis is there and supporting him.

“How have you been, Stan?” Harry offers, showing his extremely wide and genuine smile.

He seems to be enjoying himself, so Louis eases up a bit and tries to let go of Harry’s hand. Harry does not seem to be having it though, as he grips Louis’ hand harder and gives Louis a little pout.

Louis can never resist Harry’s pout, and Harry knows this. In Louis’ opinion, Harry uses that fact to his advantage way too often.

Louis rolls his eyes at Harry, but nevertheless, does not let go of his hand.

Stan had been talking throughout this little encounter, about his girlfriend and how they might move in together.

“That’s great, mate! Congrats!” Louis says.

“Yeah, I thought so too, but here I am, the second day in and I’m already doing grocery runs.” He grabs Louis’ shoulders, “Save me, Lou.”

Louis laughs at Stan, knowing he’s joking, because when they’re away, all Stan does is talk about his girlfriend.

“Oh, yeah, I’m sure it’s pure torture.” Louis deadpans, showing Stan that he knows Stan is absolutely loving it.

Stan smiles, and says, “Well, I better get going. I’m hoping if I’m back quick enough she won’t get mad at me for buying extra ice cream.”

Harry and Louis laugh at Stan, as he retreats towards the checkout lines.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost 400 hits! You are all amazing thank you so much!   
> I hope you enjoy this one.   
> Next chapter is going to be a little bit longer, and then hopefully things can start picking up!   
> I don't think there will be too many chapters to this one, maybe around 10 or 11.   
> Hopefully I'll get the next one out soon!!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Niall has a gig. Louis can't wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want to know what outfits they are wearing in this chapter, here's a link to the google doc with the pictures:
> 
> https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JBF5q9d8mZcIczhJJ71vXHsGZoAtp5_2ABkupSaYwrg/edit?usp=sharing

It had been an exhausting couple of days for Louis and Harry. It was almost two weeks of pretending. It was only Monday when he had come up with the lie that would be surprisingly easy for them to keep up.

Now, it was Friday morning, the following week, which meant that Niall’s gig was tonight. And to say Louis was excited was a bit of an understatement.

Louis absolutely loved Niall’s gigs and he was jumping around the flat, half from excitement half from nerves.

“Tommo, I think you need to calm down. It’s my gig and you seem to care more than I do.” Niall says, laughing at his friend.

Louis stops dead in his tracks and turns around to look at Niall with an extremely serious face on.

“Niall James Horan. How could I not be excited for tonight? I am your biggest fan and I have missed the last two gigs!” Louis supplies, only making Niall laugh harder.

They were in Louis and Harry’s living room, beers in hand, feet up on the coffee table, and last week’s football game on the tv.

Harry walks in at that moment and plops down next to Louis on the couch.

“Is he talking about your gig again?” Harry says, as he takes Louis’ beer and takes a sip before giving it back to Louis.

“Again?” Niall asks, looking at Louis. “Mate you’re proper obsessed.”

“No I’m not” Louis defends himself, “I am just supportive.” He crosses his arms and tilts his chin up and his face away from the other two boys.

“Yeah, yeah okay babe.” Harry says, rolling his eyes. The room is silent for a moment, Harry’s words sinking in to Louis and Harry.

“Anyway,” Niall starts, oblivious to the silence that had settled in the room, “I should go and get ready for tonight. Can’t disappoint my biggest fan.” He winks at Louis and just finishes off his beer before setting it down on the table. 

Louis then gets up, clearing his throat and walks Niall to the door.

“Can’t wait!” Louis shouts out to Niall as he walks down the hall out of their flat. “It better be amazing, I’m expecting a lot!” 

The only response heard from Niall was the echo of his booming laughter from the end of the hall.

Louis closed the door and slowly turned around with a very friendly smile.

Before he could even say anything though, Harry was groaning and throwing his head into his hands saying, “Ugh, I’m sorry I don’t know what that was.”

“Harry don’t worry, it’s not a big deal.” Louis supplies, because it really wasn’t. He actually kind of liked it. “Couples call each other ‘babe’ all the time, no?”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Harry says, easing up a bit.

“So, _babe_.” Louis says, and Harry smiles, amused. “We’ve only got a few more hours till we have to get ready for the gig tonight, do you want to do something?”

Harry seemed to be thinking about this, and he finally smirked and said, “Wanna watch _Grease_?”

Louis’ favorite movie is _Grease_ , and Harry knows this. There is not a chance in hell Louis would ever turn down watching _Grease_.

Louis’ jaw dropped and he said, “Babe, I’ve never loved you more.”

Harry hesitated a bit, but ultimately laughed at his friend, rolling his eyes as Louis set the movie up.

:::

They had turned the movie off before it ended, much to Louis’ dismay, because they were going to be late for Niall’s gig. Watching it had taken a little longer than it should have, because they paused it in the middle to debate over whether Danny really deserved Sandy.

Louis, having played Danny Zuko in his high school production, obviously sided with Danny. Harry is a softie and hopeless romantic, and obviously sided with Sandy.

“Oh, come off it Harry! He obviously loved her.”

“Louis, did you not see how he dismissed her when he saw her at school?”

“Okay, so that was a bad call, but I kind of see why he did it.” Louis argues. Harry makes a confused face at this so he elaborates, “Come on, he just told everyone what an amazing girl she was and how much fun they had together over the summer, and he for _sure_ exaggerated a little bit. He wanted to seem cool to his friends. Also, his friends can definitely be a bit much, and he needed to prepare her before she met them.”

“So,” Harry begins, ready with a perfect argument, “what you’re saying is that Danny has a toxic masculinity problem and he hid the girl that he’s supposedly ‘in love’ with from his friends because he didn’t want to seem ‘uncool’ to them? And then he was constantly pushing her to the side and treating her poorly, and you’re gonna tell me she deserves that?”

Louis doesn’t know what to say, and he hates being beaten in debates, but Harry has a point.

“Okay, fine.” Louis concedes.

But Harry’s not done, “Louis, she tried to have her ears pierced so she could fit in with Danny’s friends. She tried a cigarette while at a sleepover, and then later that night got made fun of for being a prude. _Then_ , she decided that the only way she was going to finally be with the guy she liked was to completely change herself, pretty much role playing, and slip into a skintight latex outfit, and you’re telling me he deserved her? Where was his effort? He put on a single fucking white cardigan to appear like a ‘nice guy’ at the end.”

Louis can’t help but smile, because Harry was so passionate about it. Louis loved seeing Harry so heated in a debate about something as silly as Grease. 

In the end of their debate, Harry got Louis to agree with him, because of course Harry was right. They continued to watch the movie, Harry smug as ever, and they only got to the car race scene before they had to turn it off and get ready.

The gig was in half an hour, but they wanted to get there early to hang with Niall before.

Louis got dressed easily, with a white t-shirt and a kind of denim button up that he wore over the t-shirt and unbuttoned. He was wearing his favorite pair of black skinny jeans and his trusty black vans.

“Harry, babe, hurry up! We need to see Nialler before the show!” He shouted, from his seat by the door, where he always sat when waiting for Harry to get ready.

So, pet names were a thing now. It was just something about calling Harry ‘love’ or ‘babe’ that Louis absolutely loved. He thinks Harry likes it too, because whenever Louis does it, he smiles.

“Love, it takes a while to look good!” Harry shouts from his room. “You wouldn’t know though would you?” He says with a little sing song voice, as he steps out into the living room.

He looks amazing.

He’s wearing a kind of maroon flannel, that is only buttoned half way, showing his chest. He’s got black skinny jeans on as well, and of course the trusty brown boots that he always wears. He also has this pale colored hat on, which normally Louis would comment on, seeing as they’re going to be indoors and even if they weren’t, it provides no shade from the sun at all. For some reason though, Louis is at a loss for words and he couldn’t tell if it was from the way Harry looks right now or the fact that Harry just called him ‘love’, but either way it’s not allowed.

_No, Louis. Snap out of it._ He told himself, mentally slapping himself across the face.

Louis just clears his throat and wipes his hands on his legs before standing up.

“Come on, we’re gonna be late.” Is all Louis can manage to say.

:::

They arrive at the pub just on time, with only five minutes to spare before Niall has to go to the stage.

“Lads!” Niall shouts over the loud music and chatter from all the people. Damn, this place is packed. “You made it!”

“Of course we did, Nialler!” Louis shouts back, “You didn’t think your number one fan wouldn’t come did you?”

Niall laughs and jumps to hug Louis, and then turns to Harry.

“Harry! You’re here!” And Harry just laughs as Niall jumps to hug him too.

“Where are Liam and Zayn?” Louis shouts to Niall.

“They’re over there, at that table probably snogging or something.” Niall says, smirking. “Go join them, I must go now.” He leaves them with a wink as Louis laughs at him.

Louis looks over to Harry, to make sure he’s enjoying himself. He sees Harry smiling, and grabs his hand, “Come on, Haz.”

They walk over to Zayn and Liam, who aren’t snogging, just talking and playing with each other’s hands. It’s sickeningly adorable.

“Hello lovebirds,” Louis says, sliding into the opposite side of the booth.

“Hello to you too, lovebirds,” Zayn shoots back at Louis and Harry.

Liam and Harry exchange a look and just laugh and shake their heads fondly at the two best friends.

Zayn and Liam make a very attractive couple, and they seem to be a lot less tense now that they don’t have to hide their relationship anymore. 

Zayn is wearing a black jean jacket with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, over a flannel and white band t-shirt. He’s also wearing black jeans and black boots with laces. Louis thinks he looks proper cool. He’s always loved Zayn’s artsy, kind of edgy style, but he doesn’t feel like he could pull it off.

Liam, on the other hand, was wearing a black leather jacket, with a red and black flannel and a white tank top underneath. His light wash blue jeans were baggy, and had a chain hanging from the belt loops. He was also rocking the very bright and very new white high tops, with the laces only done halfway up. Louis always thought Liam was just naturally cool. He definitely dressed that way.

Niall was the most dressed up out of all them, probably due to the fact that this was his gig. He was at the front of the pub, talking to the sound guys, wearing a white button up shirt that had a pattern of small black palm trees on it. He only had one or two buttons undone, not nearly as many as Harry. He was also sporting tight blue skinny jeans and blue suede boots with laces. Louis also noticed the glasses he was wearing, which is something Louis knows Niall only does when he wants to impress someone or when he is extremely lazy and tired. Louis knows it’s not for the second reason.

Louis has been to more than a few of Niall’s gigs before, and he doesn’t recall ever seeing Niall wear his glasses. He also remembers Niall talking about this show being an important one. Suddenly, it clicks for Louis. There’s probably an agent or manager, or whoever it is that finds people playing in pubs and signs them, in the audience today, and Louis could not be more excited for Niall.

Louis has always felt like Niall’s older brother, and the feeling of pride for him right now is immense.

At that moment, Niall shook the hands of one of the sound guys, who handed him his guitar. He walked on stage, and people started applauding.

Louis grabbed Harry’s arm and shook it, saying, “Look! Ni’s getting up there! Let’s go!”

He didn’t give Harry a chance to respond as he dragged him to the middle of the crowd, leaving Zayn and Liam behind, laughing.

Louis noticed that Niall seemed a little more nervous today. Of course, this wouldn’t have been noticeable to anyone else, because it was just the very little things that gave him away. The extra second it took him to plug in his guitar, the way he shifted his glasses up every few minutes, the way he played with the bottom button on his shirt as he introduced himself.

Niall was a natural. He had great stage presence and could always capture a crowd. So when he got up on the stage, he won everyone over by flashing his perfect smile and saying, “Hello everyone, I’m Niall Horan and here’s my crew” with his perfect Irish accent as he gestured to the people behind him setting things up.

Louis could tell the exact moment Niall spotted them in the crowd. His smile grew bigger and more genuine, and he seemed significantly more relaxed. Luckily, as Niall caught Louis’ eye, Zayn and Liam had met them on the floor.

Having all of his friends at his show helps Niall tremendously. This was one of the reasons it killed Louis to miss so many of his shows.

“I’ve just written a few songs, and I hope you like them. This one’s called ‘On My Own’.”

It started with the guitar and drums, and when Niall came in with his singing, it pulled it all together. Louis loved it.

Louis had been so caught up in the excitement of Niall’s gig, that he had forgotten he was holding Harry’s hand. Harry didn’t seem to mind, though, so Louis didn’t let go. 

As Niall continued to sing through the chorus, Louis dared to look at Harry. Louis was extremely relieved to see that Harry looked like he was having the time of his life. He met Louis’ eye and smiled even wider. It kind of took Louis’ breath away. 

_What? No. Snap out of it, Louis._

Louis cleared his throat and let go of Harry’s hand, reaching up to ask, “I’m going to get a drink, do you want anything?”

Harry just shook his head, and Louis nodded. He wiped his hands on his pants, as they were suddenly very sweaty. It was just hot in the room, that’s all.

:::

Louis got a beer, and got Harry a bottle of water anyway. As he made his way back to the crowd to find Harry, he found Liam and Zayn. They were kissing, but it was all pretty innocent so far. Harry had shifted further to the stage, as Niall had begun to introduce his next song.

“Haz,” Louis said, tapping his shoulder.

Harry turned around, immediately smiling at the sight of Louis.

Louis held up the water bottle and said, “I knew you wouldn’t ask, but I could tell you wanted one.”

Harry took the water bottle with a grin and hugged Louis.

“So, this next one,” Niall said into the microphone. “Is a bit slower, and it’s for all my lovebirds out there.” He winked at Harry and Louis and then pointed to Zayn and Liam. Harry blushed, as Louis blew Niall a kiss. Liam shouted “We love you Ni!”, causing a few people to laugh.

“Yeah, yeah. Just don’t go too overboard okay?” Niall joked to Liam. “Anyway, this one’s called ‘Put a Little Love on Me’. Enjoy and find a dance partner!” 

Niall turned around and walked to the piano. Louis knew Niall played piano, but he hadn’t really heard him play like he had with the guitar. This was going to be fun.

Harry seemed entranced in the performance, as Niall sang beautifully through the first few lines. Louis turned around, and saw Liam and Zayn, as well as a few other couples, slow dancing.

_Would that be too weird?_ Louis thought. _No. Friends can dance._ He finally convinced himself.

He knew Harry was a hopeless romantic, so he was sure to go for this.

Louis turned back to Harry and tapped his shoulder. “Harold,” he said, holding out his hand.

Harry gave Louis a confused look, and Louis just sighed and said, “Dance with me, idiot”.

Harry beamed at Louis, and wrapped his hands around Louis’ waist. Louis leaned into the touch, wrapping his hands around Harry’s neck.

They kind of swayed there for a bit, Harry resting his head on Louis’ shoulder. Louis couldn’t help but notice that he was a bit short for that to be comfortable. Why hadn’t he noticed that before? Harry always seemed to lean over for him, so Louis never had to go up on his toes to hug or dance with him like he always was with everyone else.

As Niall reached the bridge of his song, Louis dared to pull away from Harry just a bit, so he could look at him. The action had received a groan of protest in reply, but Harry eventually looked up at him, and when his beautiful green eyes met Louis’ ocean blue ones, the world stopped spinning. That might be an exaggeration on Louis’ part, but that’s what it felt like. Everyone else had disappeared, and if Louis was being honest, it was a bit much. The only thing that brought them out of the moment was the applause when Niall had finished his song. As they released each other, Louis couldn’t help but notice that they had moved a little closer to each other. Had he done that?

Louis just shook his head and pushed the thought away as he replaced his confused look with a smile and cheered for Niall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 600 Hits!! Thank you all so much for reading, you're all insane!
> 
> Also, forgive me if my timeline is a little screwed up throughout the story, I wasn't really sure what it was going to be. If there are inconsistencies, my bad!
> 
> I've figured out that this story is probably going to be around 13 chapters, so we're getting there!
> 
> It does get worse before it gets better, but what else is new?
> 
> I hope you enjoyed and I'll hopefully have the next chapter out soon!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> October 28th.

If there’s one thing Louis loves, it’s cuddling up in a blanket with a bunch of food in front of the tv. 

And his family and friends of course. Obviously.

But at the moment, he was wrapped up in a blanket, pizza boxes and beers on the table, movie on the tv, and friends by his side. He couldn’t be happier. 

Niall, as usual, was sitting on the floor, closest to the table and therefore, the food. 

Liam sat the closest to Louis, on his right. He had his left arm up on the back of the couch as Zayn’s legs were crossed over his own. His right arm was resting on Zayn’s legs, as Zayn mindlessly doodled little shapes and drawings on it with his pen. Louis had to give it to him, Zayn was a great artist. He had to draw around the few tattoos Liam had, and it still managed to look good.

Zayn whined and pouted a bit when Liam took his arm away and moved Zayn’s legs off of him and placed them on the couch cushion as he stood up. Liam laughed at Zayn and just said, “Babe, I’ll be back in a sec I’m just grabbing another beer.”

Zayn’s pout turned into a grin, as Liam pecked his lips before walking out of the room.

Louis, who had been trying hard to pretend like he wasn’t watching that whole encounter just gave up trying and looked at his best friend. He shoved his shoulder a bit and Zayn just smiled, looking all smitten.

“You’re proper gone for him, aren’t you?” Louis asked quietly.

“You have no idea.” Zayn just sighed, eyes never leaving Liam as he came back, picking up Zayn’s legs and placing them back on his own.

It seemed so natural, the way they just fit together, the way they were with each other. Louis would like to think he always saw the potential between Zayn and Liam. Zayn was his best friend after all. 

“Tommo, mate” Niall said, taking Louis’ attention away from the disgustingly adorable happy couple. “When’s Harry coming back?”

Harry had gone out to the grocer’s, spontaneously claiming that he absolutely needed cookie dough ice cream, and he needed it now. Louis had laughed at it at the time, not thinking he was serious. It wasn’t until Harry was out the door that he realized he was serious. That was twenty minutes ago and the grocer’s was just two streets down.

As if he had been summoned, Harry walked through the door just then. And Louis should have known better than to let Harry go by himself, because he came back with not only a pint of cookie dough ice cream, but also a pint of chocolate brownie and mint chocolate chip ice cream. He had also bought those little kid’s spoons, claiming that was all the market had. As if they didn’t have spoons at home. Louis internally rolled his eyes at him, but he couldn’t deny that it was a bit endearing.

Harry caught sight of them all by the tv and beamed, running over and dropping the pints and spoons on the table, keeping two spoons and the cookie dough ice cream for himself.

Louis immediately opened his blanket up to let Harry in, on instinct. Harry offered him one of the two spoons he held as he opened the ice cream he held. Harry then curled into Louis’ side, and Louis wrapped his arm around Harry’s middle, letting it rest there as they ate ice cream.

Niall grabbed the fudge brownie and a spoon for himself, as Liam grabbed the mint chocolate chip and two spoons for him and Zayn.

It was all very calming, really. Louis back home with all of his best mates, eating pizza and ice cream, drinking beer, and having a movie on the tv. None of them really watched it, they just had it on. To be honest, Louis didn’t even know what it was. That didn’t really matter though, they were all just enjoying each other’s company.

An hour later, all the beer bottles, pizza boxes, and pints of ice cream were emptied, left on the table. 

Niall had managed to take out his guitar, playing a soft and calm melody. Louis felt Harry’s breathing gradually get slower and deeper, an indication that he had fallen asleep. Louis had no interest in waking him up, he looked so peaceful.

Louis took special notice of the way Harry just fit perfectly into Louis’ side, the way his curls fell on his face when they weren’t styled. The way his eyelashes touched his cheeks, eyelids closed and covering the piercing green color of the irises that lay beneath them. 

Louis had come to love Harry’s eyes. They had always seemed so bright and expressive. Louis was always able to tell what Harry was really thinking by looking in his eyes. And if they just so happened to light up every time he looked at Louis, and made Louis’ heart flutter every time they locked with his own, then that was nobody else’s business.

There was something so familiar, so safe, about the way Harry just fit into Louis’ side. Louis couldn’t help but smile when he noticed that Harry’s mouth naturally curled up into a slight smile as he slept.

He managed to tear his gaze away from the beautiful man lying beside him to look around the room. 

Niall had continued to play a calm and sweet melody, but it was now a different one. Louis wondered if it was a new song he was working on.

Liam and Zayn were still intertwined, but now they were lying down and Liam was curled into Zayn’s chest. Louis thought it was sweet, and he silently wished he could have something like they have. 

He looked back down to Harry and wondered-- _No._ He immediately stopped himself. He could _not_ start thinking those kinds of thoughts about Harry, could he? No. He couldn’t. A few minutes later, by the time he had convinced himself of this, Niall had stopped playing. Louis looked to meet his eyes and give him a little sad look as if to ask him to keep playing. When he met the Irish boy’s eyes, all Niall said was, “You two are so cute together.”

Louis blushed, and then he heard, “You are quite cute” from Zayn and a cheeky “I think it’s the white shirt” from Liam. Zayn hit him sleepily and they all just laughed quietly.

They were just saying that because they thought that Harry and Louis were together, right? 

That’s definitely what Louis told himself. It was all for show. No feelings. Harry’s his best friend. He couldn’t. Could he?

Oh god, Louis had a lot to think about.

:::

Suddenly, it was October 28th. Technically, it wasn’t a _full_ month of Harry and Louis pretending, but it was a month since they had said they were dating. So in Louis’ book, that counts as an anniversary.

And anniversaries called for special occasions. Something Harry wouldn’t expect. Something that Louis would never do for him on a regular day.

Louis was going to cook for Harry.

He was going to do it. He was finally going to tackle the dreaded chicken dish he attempted so many years ago. But first.

Harry had been having a stressful time at work lately, having shifts up to twelve hours each day. Harry said it was because it was nearing Halloween and people were having parties, so they needed their desserts from the bakery. Louis guessed that made a little bit of sense, but he was still upset he didn’t see Harry as much. 

Tonight was going to be good though. Harry didn’t want anything big, and to be honest, neither did Louis. Because, they weren’t technically dating, and Louis figured that a nice chill night in is exactly what Harry needed.

So, Louis spent all afternoon moving furniture in their living room and building a fort. He stole the fairy lights from above Harry’s bed and hung them over the top once he had finished building the thing. He shoved blankets and pillows from the couch inside, to make it as comfy as possible. It was set up so the opening was facing the tv, which was queued up with _The Notebook_ , much to Louis’ dismay.

Now for the hard part. If Louis was being honest with himself, he didn’t even know where to start. He was way out of his league here. He figured he couldn’t go wrong with looking up a recipe online and following it. How hard could that be?

Apparently, it was a lot harder than it seemed. 

The kitchen was so overwhelming, there were so many utensils and so many different steps to follow. Louis wondered how Harry could possibly do this everyday.

As he was trying to wrap the chicken, which was stuffed with mozzarella, in the parmaham, Harry walked through the door.

“No no no no no no!” Louis yelled, holding out his hands. “You weren’t supposed to be home for another half hour!”

Harry was just stuck where he stood, in shock. The first thing he saw was the fort, which- he might cry- was beautiful and looked so cozy. But the fact that Louis had managed to successfully build a fort was not what shocked him. It wasn’t _The Notebook_ queued up on the tv either, which was pretty shocking. No, it was the fact that Louis was frantically running around the kitchen with a piece of chicken in his hand.

“Louis…” Harry started “Are you… _cooking_?”

Louis let out a short and loud laugh before saying, “Well, I’m _trying_ to! Goddamn chicken dish.”

Harry brought one hand up to his mouth, to cover the smile that was growing there. Louis was so cute. This whole plan was so adorable.

“Would you like some help?”

“God yes, I’m hopeless Hazza.”

Harry laughed, and put his bag down by the door, shutting it as he finally entered the flat.

“Maybe you should try something a little simpler next time?”

Louis shot him a glare, and Harry just laughed.

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry. Now, where’s the recipe?”

:::

Twenty minutes later, Louis was very irritated, but relieved it was finally done. Yes, Harry did a lot of it. And yes, he did look good doing it.

Louis had now been able to admit that he found Harry insanely attractive because, come on. Look at him. Anyone who says otherwise is lying. 

“Now you go sit Harold,” Louis demanded, pointing to the fort. “I made it and I put my blood, sweat, and tears into it so you better enjoy it.”

Harry laughed at Louis, but nonetheless walked over to the fort and curled up in the blankets. It was extremely comfy, he had to give it to Louis. Just then, Louis walked over with the two dishes and two glasses of water. He handed one of each to Harry.

Harry took his first bite, and tried his hardest to keep a straight face before Louis bit into it. Seeing that Harry didn’t throw up, Louis took a bite.

“Oh god” he said, just spitting it back out.

“No, Lou, it really isn’t bad.” Harry tried.

“No. Give it.” Louis held his hand out and Harry handed him the plate. He dumped them in the sink, opened the freezer and pulled out a giant tub of ice cream. They had of course restocked after the movie night with the guys. Before returning to the fort, he grabbed two spoons.

Louis sank back down into the cushions in the fort and said, “Dinner is served.” opening the tub of ice cream and handing Harry a spoon.

“This is perfect, Louis. Thank you.”

Harry was extremely grateful. He really didn’t want to go out to dinner or really leave the flat at all. And Louis understood. Louis always seemed to understand when Harry’s social battery needed to recharge. 

That’s what Harry referred to it as. His ‘social battery’. He can only take so much at once, and when he reaches his limit, he has to recharge. This was a perfect night and definitely helped with that. 

“Oh, just wait and see Harold.” Louis smirked as he pulled the remote for the tv out from behind him.

Harry’s smile grew wider, and he clapped his hands together, excited to watch. Louis laughed, and shook his head fondly before pressing play.

Both of them had an exhausting day, with Louis almost stressing himself out to the level of a meltdown and Harry’s twelve hour shift at the bakery. So it wasn’t a surprise that neither of them had made it that far into the movie. About twenty minutes in, Harry fell asleep against Louis’ chest, and probably about ten minutes later, Louis fell asleep as well, resting his head on Harry’s.

:::

When Louis woke up, he found that him and Harry had shifted in their sleep.

Harry was now laying on his side, his back to Louis. Louis had his arm draped over Harry’s waist. Louis’ knees tucked into the back of Harry’s and chest to Harry’s back.

Louis could honestly stay like this all day, but of course, he could not. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t soak it up for as long as possible. He tightened his grip on Harry’s waist and tucked his nose into Harry’s shoulder. He let himself drift back to sleep like this, a smile present on his face.

Harry awoke around forty five minutes later, realizing for the first time that him and Louis had shifted positions. As much as he loved spooning, he wanted to see Louis.

Harry wriggled out of Louis’ grip, Louis’ brow furrowing at the loss of contact. Harry just turned around and put their foreheads together, putting Louis’ hand back on his waist. Louis’ brow immediately relaxed, a smile setting in on his face.

Louis looked extremely beautiful in his sleep.

Harry just smiled at the thought and closed his eyes again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading, and I hope you all had an amazing Christmas if you celebrate it!
> 
> I probably won't be posting again until after the New Year, so I hope you all have an amazing New Year's as well! Cross your fingers for me that I can get my art project done before then haha.
> 
> Goodbye, lovelies and I hope you enjoyed this one!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys go to a Halloween party. Niall has his second gig.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's a bit longer than the rest of them, so after this the chapters should be a bit shorter.
> 
> Also, for the sake of the plot, Daisy and Phoebe are a little bit younger than they actually are in real life. They're around 9 or 10 in this.

So, sleeping next to each other was a thing they did now. And if he was being honest, Louis did not have any objections. It was nice, having someone there next to you when you go to sleep, and then not waking up in a cold bed. 

Louis tries to get back to sleep, because he’s comfortable in this position with Harry, as his arm is behind Harry’s back, curling Harry’s head to his chest. Harry has one of his legs crossing over and intertwined with Louis’.

Louis manages to stay in this position for about half an hour, before he decides to get up and make some breakfast.

He gets to the hallway leading up to the kitchen when he sees the remains of the fort they made a couple nights ago for their ‘anniversary’. Louis smiles at it, before heading to the kitchen.

Once again, he has no idea what to do in here. But Harry’s been so great lately, and he definitely deserves some compensation for putting up with Louis’ stubborn arse this whole time. 

He settles on easy scrambled eggs and toast. He got as far as pulling out the eggs before realizing that he doesn’t know how to make scrambled eggs. He kind of laughs at himself, but is determined to complete a full meal.

He refuses to wake Harry up, so he calls his mum.

The phone rings three times, before the FaceTime call is answered by his younger sisters, Daisy and Phoebe. Louis smiles as they shout their hellos to him. He misses them so much.

“Hi girls! Is mummy there?” He asks sweetly.

“Yeah, she is Lou! But look what I got! Look at my costume!” Daisy shouts.

Oh right, it’s Halloween. Louis had forgotten.

She looks very cute in her princess ball gown, matching with Phoebe.

“I love it! You both look stunning!”

“Thanks Lou! We miss you so much!” Phoebe says, bringing her face closer to the screen.

“I miss you all too, loves. Can you give the phone to mummy? I want to ask her something.”

“Yeah, she’s right here.” Daisy says, passing the phone over to Louis’ mum.

“Louis! How are you? Happy Halloween!” Jay, Louis’ mum says with a smile, as she sees her son’s face appear on the screen in front of her. 

“Hi mum,” Louis says. “So, I was wondering. How do you make scrambled eggs?”

Jay laughs on the other end, but quickly covers her mouth with her hand, silencing herself. 

“Boo, you are an adult! You really don’t know how to make scrambled eggs?” She asks, a bit shocked.

Louis’ head falls onto his arm, which is resting on the countertop. “No,” he says, a bit ashamed of himself, because he really should know how to make scrambled eggs.

She laughs a bit more, and he silences her by whining, “ _Mum_ ,”

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry. Wow, Harry really spoils you, huh?”

It’s true. Louis doesn’t know the last time he cooked for Harry. Well, other than their anniversary, but no chance in hell that actually counts.

He spends the next fifteen minutes on the phone with her, making scrambled eggs and toast to bring to Harry. He actually can make the toast, because he’s not a complete imbecile. He manages to finish everything, and says goodbye to his mum and siblings.

He figures, maybe he should try it before he gives it to Harry. He takes a forkful of the eggs, and spits it out immediately. What the fuck? How can someone mess up scrambled eggs? Louis is really hopeless.

He puts the piece of toast on a plate with some jam and butter on the side, and holds the cuppa in his other hand. He puts them both on Harry’s side of the bed, and sits next to Harry on the bed.

Harry has shifted in his sleep, and was now in a position that looked like he was looking for Louis’ body in his sleep. His arms were reached out to the side where Louis usually sleeps and his legs were tucked into himself. 

As soon as Louis gently shakes Harry’s shoulder, whispering “Harreh, wake up”, Harry groans and grabs Louis around his waist, to pull him back into the bed. Louis yelps a bit, because that was not what he was expecting.

“Harry! Harry!” He yells, tapping his shoulder as Harry tickles him. Harry finally stops and just curls himself around Louis.

A few minutes later, Louis moves Harry’s curly hair out of his eyes, and whispers, “Harry, your tea is going to get cold.”

Harry’s brow furrows with confusion, his eyes still closed.

He speaks for the first time that morning, “My tea?”

And oh god, Harry’s voice was raspy and deep from sleep and slow from tiredness. Louis should definitely not have noticed how wonderful his voice sounded when he first woke up, or how beautiful he looked lying there.

“Yes, Harry. I made you tea and toast. Well, I made you tea, toast, and eggs, but you’re not getting the eggs.”

Harry finally opened his eyes at that.

“What happened?”

“Don’t go in the kitchen.”

“Lou!” Harry whined, “I want the eggs.”

“No, you are not eating them. They are highly inedible.”

Harry pouted, and Louis had to push Harry’s head away from him.

“Harry, I’m hopeless. I even called mum and she couldn’t help me.”

Harry’s eyes widened, “You called Jay?”

“Yeah, of course I did. How am I supposed to know how to make scrambled eggs?”

Harry just laughed at Louis, before turning to his tea and toast, bringing it onto the bed.

“At least you can make toast.” Harry offered, and Louis just gave a very fake laugh in return, “Ha ha very funny Styles.

Just for that, Louis ripped off half of Harry’s toast and popped it in his mouth, which led to Harry putting the empty plate and the tea on the side table, so he could tackle Louis.

:::

It was Halloween, of course, and that meant parties.

Louis and Harry were meeting up with Zayn, Liam, and Niall to go to Ed’s house, where there was sure to be a huge party.

Louis had decided to play up his enjoyment for pissing off Harry, and dressed up as Danny Zuko from _Grease_. 

“You sure you want to go to this, Harry?” He shouted from down the hallway, as Harry was still getting ready in his costume. They had both decided to hide their costumes from each other this year, to add a nice element of surprise. Louis expected some elaborate and extremely well put together outfit. Harry was always attractive, but on Halloween, he really stepped up his game.

Louis was not, however, expecting what actually happened.

As he was fixing his leather jacket to get it to lie perfectly on his shoulders, Louis saw Harry’s door open in the mirror in front of him. He immediately turned around, to see Harry positively beaming. Louis got a little lost in his dimples, but that only lasted for a second, before he finally took in Harry’s costume.

He was wearing a fucking Scooby Doo costume. He was dressed as Scooby Doo, with the tail and head and everything. Louis thought he was absolutely ridiculous, but then he realized how Harry was extremely adorable. How is it that this man can pull off pretty much everything?

Louis watched Harry’s face, as his smile fell a little and the look on his face turned into a look of frustration.

“Lou?” Harry said, putting his hands on his hips. Louis thought he looked quite ridiculous, even if he was cute. “Care to explain why you’re dressed like an asshole?”

Louis couldn’t help it, he barked out a laugh before he could control himself. He then cleared his throat before saying, “Excuse me, Harold, but this movie is one of the most well known movies of all time and I will dress like the man if I want to.” Louis was now mirroring Harry’s stance, with his hands on his hips.

Harry shook his head fondly, before Louis could say, “And do you want to tell me the thought process behind _that_?” He gestured to Harry’s whole look.

Harry put his hand on his chin, to show that he was thinking about it, pausing before he said, “Mmmmm… Nope.”

Harry broke out into the biggest smile, and Louis just shook his head as he held out his hand. Harry just smiled wider and took Louis’ hand, and the two of them walked towards the door.

“We’re just meeting up with the boys right?” Harry asked, a bit of nervousness peeking through.

Louis just squeezed his hand tighter, earning him a look of gratitude from Harry. He shut the front door behind them and said, “Yep. Then we’re going to Ed’s.” Harry nodded, and Louis pulled him to a stop in the hallway, just before the lift. 

“Hey,” he said, forcing Harry to meet his eyes. “We can leave whenever you want, okay? Don’t think you have to stay because I’m having fun.”

Harry let out a little sigh of relief and just smiled at Louis. “Yeah, got it. Thanks, Lou.”

“Yeah, yeah. Come on.” Louis said, shoving Harry’s shoulder playfully as the lift stopped at their floor.

They meet up with Zayn, Liam, and Niall before heading up to Ed’s flat. 

“Lou!” Louis hears Zayn call from a few feet away.

Louis’ head whips over to them, and he can’t help but smile as he takes in everyone’s costumes. Liam, of course, is Batman because what else would he be? Zayn is a gorgeous Harry Potter, with the red and gold tie a little loose around his neck. Niall is- well, Louis doesn’t actually know what Niall is. He just seems to have a footie kit on, and that’s not much of a costume.

“What are you, Horan?” Louis asks.

“Oh, shit wait let me just…” The Irishman says, pulling out a brown wig and putting it on. He pushes the fringe to the side and turns around.

“You little shit!” Louis hisses, before letting go of Harry’s hand to chase him around the lobby.

Niall had somehow stolen Louis’ football kit from his closet, and purchased a wig to look like Louis’ hair.

“I’m you!” Niall shouted, through his laughter. He was being chased around by Louis.

The rest of the boys were laughing at the spectacle, before Zayn was telling them to cut it out, and Harry was reaching out for Louis’ hand to stop him.

“You better not ruin that, Horan” Louis said, gesturing to his jersey. “Practice starts up again soon.”

Niall gives him a little salute and the five of them set out the door and off to Ed’s apartment. 

The apartment is pretty full, though not at full capacity. Louis sees a few people he knows, and as they get further in the door, and the music becomes louder, Louis feels Harry tense a bit next to him.

“Remember,” Louis says, a bit loud in order to be heard above the music, “we’ll leave whenever you want.”

Harry grips his hand tighter as he gives Louis a bright and genuine smile. His dimples are fully present, and Louis can’t help but poke one of them. This just makes Harry smile even wider, and helps him relax just a bit more.

After a few hours and plenty of drinks later, Louis had a pretty good buzz going. He wasn’t quite drunk yet, but hopefully that would soon change. Harry had managed to disappear, and Louis wasn’t sure where he was. He decided to look around the room, just to make sure Harry wasn’t miserable.

As Louis looked around, his eyes fell onto Zayn and Liam. He couldn’t help but coo at the sight: Liam’s arms were around Zayn’s waist and Zayn’s head was buried into Liam’s neck. They seemed to be unaware of those around them and didn’t seem to mind that they were swaying slowly to a fast song. Liam must have said something funny, because Zayn suddenly threw his head back in laughter before covering his mouth with his hands, as Liam just grinned wider at the sight. 

Louis felt kind of awkward that he was just standing there watching two of his best friends just dance and talk, but he couldn’t help it. They were so in love and so sickeningly adorable, and Louis was just mesmerized by it. 

Louis smiled at the sight and finally managed to pull his eyes away from the whole spectacle. He resumed trying to find Harry when his eyes found Niall, shamelessly flirting with a group of girls. Louis just laughed a bit to himself as he shook his head fondly at his friend.

Having pretty much given up on trying to find Harry, Louis headed back towards the kitchen to get another drink. He caught sight of Eleanor, but had zero interest in talking to her. He tried to stay out of her line of view when he heard,

“Tommo!”

Louis turned around, smiling as he was met with the sight of his teammate and good friend, Stan. 

“Stan Lucas!” Louis said, holding out his arms for a hug. Stan ran straight into them and the two men pat each other on the backs before parting.

“This is my girlfriend, Nicole.” Stan said, gesturing to the woman beside him. She was quite beautiful, and Louis sent his bright smile her way before giving her a hug of her own.

“Nice to meet you, Nicole. I’m Louis.”

“It’s great to finally meet you,” She says, “Stan doesn’t shut up about you.”

Louis’ face brightens, as he now has a new topic to bug Stan with. He turns to Stan, with his biggest smile and says, “Oh, really?”

Stan rolls his eyes, but can’t help but let a small smile escape his lips. “Oh, shut up,” He says, shoving Louis’ shoulder a bit. 

And with perfect timing, Harry stumbled right into him.

“Lou!” Harry shouted, his face immediately brightening at the sight of his fake boyfriend. 

“Haz! I was trying to find you,” Louis said loudly over the music in the apartment.

“Lou Lou,” Harry said in a sing-song way, “These are my new friends…” He slurred his words, as he turned back to the four boys behind him. Harry didn’t seem to remember their names, so one by one, they introduced themselves to Louis.

“I’m Ashton,” The one closest to Harry said. Next to him, “Luke,” then, “Callum,” and finally, “Michael, what’s up?”

Louis nodded to all of them before saying, “Louis, nice to meet you all. And this is Stan and Nicole.”

They nodded back to them, before Ashton turned to Harry and said, “Hey, we’ll catch up with you another time, yeah?”

Harry pouted slightly, but his pout quickly turned into a smile as he hugged each one of them goodbye. As they left, he turned back to Louis.

“You’re drunk,” Louis said, amused a bit. He hadn’t seen Harry drunk in a long time, and he had forgotten how funny it was.

“Maybe a little,” Harry said, tripping over his own feet.

Louis lunged forward to catch him, just before he hit the floor.

“Okay,” Louis said laughing. He turned to Stan and Nicole before saying, “I think it’s time for us to go.”

Stan just smiled at the two men and just gave Louis a knowing smile.

“It was super nice meeting you, Nicole, I hope to see you soon.” Louis says, pulling Harry up and wrapping an arm around his waist. Harry falls into the touch, and leans his head on Louis’ shoulder.

“You too, Louis.” She says genuinely.

Louis nods to Stan and starts walking away as he says, “You better get your ass in shape, Lucas! Practice starts again soon!”

He turns away and smiles as he hears Stan’s laughter from behind him.

Louis brings Harry with him as he walks towards Niall, who is by the door.

Niall smiles brighter, if it’s even possible, when he sees them.

“My favorite couple! How are you two lovebirds doing tonight?”

Louis rolls his eyes and smiles before saying, “Harry is completely wasted, so I’m gonna take him home. Tell Zayn and Liam for me, will you?”

“‘Course,” He says, “Feel better, H!” 

Niall gives Harry a huge hug, which Harry falls into immediately, and tells Niall that he’s his favorite.

Louis finally manages to get Harry out the door and home to their apartment. He doesn’t even think about it when he plops Harry down in his own bed, taking off his shoes and filling a glass of water, putting it on his side of the bed.

Harry immediately rolls over to grab on to Louis, and Louis can’t do anything but laugh at Harry and fall into the touch, cradling him in his arms. 

“Hey, Loubear?” He says, words still slurring together.

“Yes, Hazzabear?” Louis responds, smiling at the new nicknames.

“Sorry I got so drunk.” Harry frowns a bit, and Louis will not have it.

“Harry, you don’t need to apologize, you were having fun. That’s all I wanted.”

Harry turns his head up, so he is looking at Louis’ eyes. “So blue,” he says, before shutting his eyes.

Louis thinks Harry has fallen asleep, because for a few minutes he is quiet, his breaths slowing. It isn’t until he hears Harry mumble something that he asks, “What was that, love? I didn’t hear you.”

“Said, thank you. I love you.”

Louis smiles and says, “Aw, Hazza I love you too.”

Harry’s eyes open, and meet Louis’ for a second, before his brow furrows and he lets go of Louis. He rolls away and curls into himself, falling asleep. Louis shakes off the feeling of emptiness by his side as Harry rolls away from him, and pushes the thoughts from his mind. He slowly gets out of the bed, trying to not wake Harry in the process. He throws on one of Harry’s shirts that is thrown onto his floor and crawls back into bed.

:::

Louis is extremely excited.

Niall has another gig tonight, and Louis cannot wait. 

It’s been a few weeks since Halloween and something has been off with Harry lately, but Louis doesn’t know what. 

He’s been kind of quiet and distant lately, but Louis hopes that will change tonight. Harry always loves Niall’s shows, even if he doesn’t constantly say it like Louis does.

Louis walks into the pub where Niall’s show is supposed to be, and he walks over to a booth in the back corner. He is met by Niall, Liam, and Zayn. He wonders where Harry is.

“Lou!” Zayn shouts, as Louis makes his way over to the booth.

“Where’s Harry?” Liam asks, looking around.

Louis shrugs, “Dunno, he was supposed to be here. But, you know how he is, he’ll probably be here soon.”

Niall laughs at this before saying, “Glad you’re here, mate. I was just telling Zayn and Liam about my set for tonight.”

“Oh yeah?” Louis says, his interest peaked.

“Mhm,” Niall says, “But you’re late, so you will have to wait and see.”

Louis’ jaw drops, “ _Niall_!” He whines.

Niall just shrugs and offers him a smug look before saying, “Gotta go get ready.”

“That’s cruel!” Louis shouts after him, as he walks away.

He turns back to Zayn and Liam who are sitting across from him, their arms linked. Zayn’s head rests on Liam’s shoulder, and his legs cross over Liam’s. Liam has one arm around Zayn’s back and the other hand resting on Zayn’s legs.

“What have I said about the PDA?” Louis says to Zayn, eyes narrowing. Zayn just smiles, and as he goes to speak, Harry bursts through the door. Instead of coming to the table, his eyes meet Niall’s and he runs past Louis, Liam, and Zayn at the booth.

Louis’ brow furrows a bit, but not for too long before Harry is backtracking and coming back to say hello.

“Hello, love.” He says to Louis, as he kisses his cheek. Heat immediately pools in Louis’ face as Harry turns to say hi to Zayn and Liam before setting off to find Niall again.

“You were saying?” Zayn says, smirking because Louis is very clearly blushing. 

“Liam!” An Irish voice calls from the back of the pub.

Liam looks over and pats Zayn’s legs, gesturing for him to remove them. Zayn gives Liam a little pout, but eventually moves his legs from Liam’s. Liam pecks his lips before saying, “Oh, don’t pout at me, I’ll be back soon.”

Zayn just smiles, so big that he has to hide his face in his hands. Louis has to hold in his ‘awe’, but he almost lets it slip out.

“He’s a good one, Z.” Louis says, watching Zayn watch Liam.

“Yeah, he is.” Zayn says, blushing. “Louis, I am so in love with him.”

Louis’ drink stops midway as he brings it up to his lips. “Have you told him?”

Zayn shakes his head, “But I want to. I’ll probably do it tonight. I’ve been thinking about it for so long. And we’re really good right now.”

“Well, shit Z. That’s huge.” Louis says, just smiling at his best friend. “I am so happy for you.”

“I honestly don’t believe it’s real that Liam would want to be with me. God, he’s so perfect isn’t he?” Zayn gushes.

“Oh come on,” Louis starts, “You two are perfect for each other. I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen two people more perfect for each other.”

“Oh yeah? What about you and Harry?” Zayn says, cocking one eyebrow at Louis across the table.

Louis, luckily didn’t have to answer, because Harry and Liam came back to the table at that second. Louis looks to the stage and sees that Niall has started setting up, indicating that his set will start soon.

“Talking about us?” Liam asked, kissing Zayn on the forehead, as he stands next to the booth. Zayn leans into the touch and smiles.

“Always,” Zayn says, making Liam smile. 

“Niall’s about to start his set,” Liam says, looking back at the stage. “Dance with me?” He says to Zayn, holding out his hands for Zayn to grab.

Zayn all but swoons at the gesture, and takes Liam’s hands immediately. 

They walk off to the middle of the pub and wait for Niall to start his set.

Niall starts his set off by introducing himself, as he always does, and then introduces a song that Louis has heard a few times before.

“This one’s called Flicker, I hope you enjoy.”

The gentle guitar begins, and Louis is instantly calmed. Harry sits across from him, watching Niall on stage. 

The two sit in silence as Niall sings on, sipping their drinks. As Niall gets to the bridge and buildup of his song, he sings,

_“And I want this to pass_

_And I hope this won't last_

_Last too long”_

Niall’s voice is beautiful, as he carries the bridge into the final verse. Louis looks over at Harry, whose eyes are closed as he slightly sways to the music.

As Niall reaches the end of his song, everyone claps, including Louis and Harry. Louis is about to ask Harry to dance with him, when Harry perks up and grabs Louis’ hand, dragging him out to the crowd of people.

“Lou!” He gasps, “We have to listen to this one!”

Louis laughs and puts his hands on his hips, saying, “Oh, another person who knows the set list? Why am I the only one who doesn’t know it?”

Harry just smiles as he grabs Louis’ hand, and stares intensely at the stage. “Pay attention, Lou.” Harry says seriously.

“So,” Niall says into the mic, before turning away and clearing his throat. “This is a new one, and I actually co-wrote it with one of my best friends. This one’s called ‘18’, I hope you enjoy.”

He starts singing:

_“I got a heart, and I got a soul_

_Believe me, I will use them both_

_We made a start_

_Be it a false one, I know_

_Baby, I don't want to feel alone”_

Louis hasn’t heard this one before. He likes it though. But Niall had said he wrote it with one of his best friends. Louis wonders who it could be. He tries to listen to the lyrics, to get any clues. 

Louis tries to listen to Niall’s lyrics as he sings:

_“We took a chance_

_God knows we tried_

_Yet all along, I knew we'd be fine”_

Niall pronounces the word ‘chance’ like ‘chonce’, and Harry just groans. Louis looks at him with a confused look. 

Harry mumbles, “How many times do I have to say it? It’s _‘chance’_ not ‘chonce’!”

Louis just turns to Harry, everything suddenly clicking.

“Harold,” He starts.

Harry turns to Louis, tilting his head a bit, gesturing Louis to continue. “Did you write this song with Niall?”

Harry pales a bit, before saying, “Um… I might have?”

Louis just gapes at him before saying, “Harry! It’s amazing!”

Harry lets out a breath, his body relaxing before he says, “Really? You like it?”

“Like it? I love it?”

Louis has only heard one of Harry’s own songs once before this, and it was amazing too. He knows that whenever Harry is writing in that leather bound notebook of his, that he’s writing, but Louis never pressures him to show them. 

Louis listens to the words a little more carefully now that he knows Harry had a part in writing them. 

Niall sings:

_“I have loved you since we were 18”_

Louis wonders who the song is about. Then he realizes that he knew Harry when he was 18. But, no. The song can’t possibly be about him. Harry doesn’t like him like that. He doesn’t like Harry like that. And right now, he wants to murder the fucking butterflies that are fluttering in his stomach at the thought of Harry writing this song about him.

No. No way the song is about Louis. Louis pushes that thought away for the rest of the night and just tries to enjoy the rest of the show.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading!!
> 
> I hope everyone had an amazing New Year's!
> 
> You're all the best and I'll see you for the next chapter!


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Louis plays football with Niall and Harry.

The sun hit Harry’s face as he lay in bed with Louis by his side. Harry leaned over Louis to look at the clock on his bedside table, seeing that it was only 7:20 am. He groaned and fell back onto his pillow, before slowly rolling out of bed to go to the bathroom. He tried his hardest not to wake Louis, but Louis stirred a little bit when Harry’s weight lifted off of the bed.

As soon as he got out from under the covers, the cold air hit his bare skin. Harry had slept in only his boxers, and as he walks to the bathroom, the cold air causes goose bumps to form on his skin. After Harry had gone to the bathroom, he slowly walked to close the blinds, so the sun didn’t wake Louis up as well. When he turned around to make his way back to the bed, he saw Louis looking back at him, a slight smile on his face.

Harry smiles a bit too, because Louis is just so goddamn beautiful. 

He crawls back into bed next to Louis, as Louis holds out his arms for Harry to fold himself into. Louis holds him close and Harry just breathes in the familiar scent. 

“I have to practice today,” Louis says quietly, breaking the silence in the room.

Harry frowns a bit, he was enjoying the calm and silent atmosphere. He tilts his head up to meet Louis’ eyes, frown still present.

“Gotta get in shape, don’t I?” Louis says, in an attempt to make Harry crack a smile.

“Can’t we just stay like this all day?” Harry says, flashing a big toothy smile, in an attempt to make Louis comply with the idea.

Louis laughs a bit before shaking his head. Harry’s pout returns, and he buries his head in Louis’ neck.

They stay like this for a moment, because they have time. It’s early in the morning, and Louis can practice later. At the moment, Louis is playing with Harry’s curls, in a way that completely calms Harry, almost to the point of sleep.

Harry doesn’t want to sleep, though. He wants to memorize every detail about this moment. It was just so perfect, so serene. The way they held each other, the way Louis’ hand was running through Harry’s hair, the comfortable silence that had set in.

Harry had his eyes closed and a pout formed on his face when Louis started poking his cheek.

“What are you doing?” Harry asked, trying to swat Louis’ hand away.

“Dimples.” Louis said simply.

“What?” Harry said, confused.

Louis said nothing, just kept poking Harry on his cheek, where his dimples appeared when he smiled. As much as Harry tried, he could not hold his smile in anymore. He broke out into a smile, dimples becoming present. Louis smiled at this and said, “There they are.”

Harry just buried his head further into Louis’ shoulder, his cheeks heating a bit.

Louis shifted, removing Harry from his grip, and Harry immediately whined, wanting him to come back.

_“Lou,”_ Harry whined, reaching his hand out for Louis’ body. His hands grabbed Louis’ waist and pulled him back. Harry’s body curled around Louis’, and Louis had forgotten exactly what he was getting up to do, opting to stay in bed with Harry for a while longer.

“I s’pose I can always practice later on,” Louis said, grinning.

“My thoughts exactly,” Harry agreed.

Louis turned around, to look at Harry’s face. The blinds hadn’t been closed all the way, and there was a tiny ray of sunlight running across his face. His eyes were closed, and Louis took notice of how his eyelashes hit his cheeks. His hair was a mess, but still seemed to suit him. Louis just sighed and let his body drape over Harry’s.

They slept for a little while longer, until Louis’ hunger got the best of him. He somehow managed to convince Harry to make him breakfast, and now they were in the kitchen, bickering as usual.

_“Please,_ Haz!” Louis begged, as he sat on the kitchen counter.

“No, Louis.” Harry said, as he stood by the stove, making pancakes.

“Oh, come on! Just one song? One!”

Louis had been trying to convince Harry to sing him one of his own songs. Harry always carried around this leather bound notebook, and he was writing in it constantly. 

“I know you have some songs in that thing,” Louis said, gesturing to the notebook on the counter.

“Doesn’t mean I’m going to share them,” Harry said over his shoulder, as he flipped the pancakes.

“Please! I love listening to you play,” Louis gave his best puppy dog expression as Harry turned to look at him with a tired look.

Harry just sighed, and let his head fall as he said, “Fine. Just one.”

Louis gasped and clapped his hands together, not thinking that would work. He jumped off the countertop, and wrapped Harry in a massive hug. He planted a messy kiss on his cheek and ran off to get dressed for the day.

Louis had just finished eating the pancakes Harry had made as Harry walked into the room. He grabbed Louis by the wrist and brought him over to the couch.

“Sit,” he said as he pointed to the couch.

Louis’ brow furrowed and he frowned a bit. He always sat next to Harry on the piano bench when he played. He didn’t have time to ask, because Harry was walking out of the room.

A second later, Harry returned with a guitar that Louis had barely even recognized. That was Harry’s stepdad’s guitar, and Louis hadn’t seen it since uni.

“Harry!” Louis exclaimed as his mouth dropped open, “Did you learn how to play?”

Harry smiled slightly before nodding and saying, “Yep. Niall’s been teaching me”

Louis just crossed his arms and leaned back, saying, “I’m ready to be serenaded.”

Harry shook his head fondly as he set himself up on the armchair near the couch. He gave one strum of a chord and hummed a few notes. This was something Harry always did before he sang, Louis supposed it was something he used to set himself up.

Harry looked at Louis with an unsure look, and Louis just flashed a bright smile back. This seemed to be enough for Harry, as he started strumming the intro to his own song.

He started a bit tentative, singing in his beautifully deep voice:

_Once in a lifetime, it's just right_

_We make no mistakes_

_Not even the landslide or riptide_

_Could take it all the way_

It was beautiful. Louis pushed all his previous thoughts out of his mind and completely focused on Harry singing.

_Somehow, it feels like nothing has changed_

_Right now, my heart is beating the same_

_Out loud, someone's calling my name_

_It sounds like you_

Louis watched as Harry closed his eyes, a little crease forming in between his brows, which is something that only happened when he was deeply concentrating. Louis couldn’t help but smile as he felt a warm feeling in his stomach. Harry’s clear voice carried into the chorus just then:

_When I close my eyes_

_All the stars align_

_And you are by my side_

_You are by my side_

The chords slowed down then, bringing the song back into another verse:

_Once in a lifetime, it's just right_

_We are always safe_

_Not even the bad guys in the dark night_

_Could take it all the way_

_Somehow, it feels like nothin' has changed_

_Right now, my heart is beatin' the same_

_Out loud, someone's calling my name_

_And it sounds like you_

_When I close my eyes_

_All the stars align_

_And you are by my side_

_You are by my side_

_You are by my side_

_You are by my side_

Harry paused, opening his eyes and bringing them up to meet Louis’ before singing the final line:

_Once in a lifetime, you were mine_

Louis was speechless. Him and Harry were still staring into each other’s eyes, and there was something there that hadn’t been there before. Louis couldn’t quite pinpoint it though.

“Harry…” was all he could manage.

“Did you like it?” Harry said, sounding unsure.

“It was beautiful.” Louis said, still amazed at how much he loved it. He didn’t know Harry could write such beautiful words, but he knew he never wanted it to stop.

He wondered who it was about, but then realized that Harry’s a hopeless romantic. It doesn’t necessarily _have_ to be about a specific someone, it could just be the idea of loving someone that much. He didn’t want to ruin the moment by asking, so he just pushed the idea to the side.

From now on, Louis was going to ask Harry to sing for him constantly.

:::

Louis hadn’t really played football in far too long.

He had asked the guys to come practice with him so he could get in shape before practices started up again.

Niall and Liam were actually quite good, but not as good as Louis of course. Zayn wasn’t amazing, but he also wasn’t completely shit. He could probably make a goal or two against Louis. Harry on the other hand… 

Harry was extremely clumsy, and could not make a single goal against Louis the entire two hours they’d been at the field. 

About an hour and a half in, Harry had just ended up passing the ball to Niall whenever the ball made its way over to him. Zayn and Liam were on a date, so they were not at the field with Niall, Louis, and Harry.

After about two and a half hours, Niall ran back to their stuff to check the time on his phone.

“Lads,” He shouted from the other side of the field to get Harry and Louis’ attention. “I have to go!”

Louis pouted in Niall’s direction and put his hands on his hips. Niall laughed at this and just said, “Gotta write, Lou! Or would you be okay with a boring set next time?”

Louis narrowed his eyes at the blonde boy as Niall packed up his stuff and slung his bag over his shoulder.

“We’ll practice another time, Tommo!”

“Alright, alright! Go!” Louis said, giving in to Niall Horan’s infectious smile.

Said smile just widened as he ran over to Louis. He smacked a messy kiss on Louis’ cheek and said, “Love you, bye!” As he ran the other direction, hugging Harry before getting into his car and driving off.

“Does this mean I actually have to play now?” Harry said as he walked over from the sidelines onto the field.

Louis smiled at the tall, curly haired boy with beautiful green eyes. He really had to stop thinking about how beautiful Harry is. 

“Haz, I know you can do it.”

“I can’t, Lou. I’m so clumsy. I can’t even kick it properly for god’s sake!” Harry said, laughing a bit at how pathetic he sounded.

Louis wasn’t phased, though and grabbed Harry’s hand to pull him to the middle of the field.

“Well then, I’ll show you.” 

Louis ran to get the ball that had been sitting right outside the goal, where Louis had saved it from going in. He picked it up and ran back to Harry.

He set it down in front of Harry’s feet and said, “Okay, so you kick with your right foot, right?”

Harry silently nodded, with a concentrated look on his face. He was so cute when he concentrated on things. Louis smiled and continued, saying, “Okay, so make sure your knees are bent. Your left arm is gonna come out and away from your body,” He demonstrated what he meant in slow motion, “And you’re gonna lean a bit to the left.”

Harry nodded again, watching Louis’ every move. “We’re just going to try to make a goal, so you’re gonna kick the ball with your laces.” Louis continued, “And then just keep your left foot at a good distance from the ball. Probably about here,” Louis demonstrated with his own left foot and the ball.

“Simple, right?” Louis said, gaining a slight laugh from Harry.

“Yeah, sure. Easier said than done. You’re a professional football player and I’m a klutz.”

“I know you can do it, Haz. Want to try one without me in goal?”

Harry nodded and set himself up.

“You can do a running start if you want, just make sure your left foot is planted at the perfect position.”

“Okay.” Harry backed up a few steps, before looking up to Louis and saying, “Here?”

Louis nodded, because he didn’t trust his voice to say the right thing. Harry looked so intent on getting this perfectly, and it completely knocked the breath out of Louis. Luckily, he had something else to focus on, as Harry was running towards the football.

It wasn’t a perfect kick, but it made it into the goal with some force behind it.

“That was great, Haz!”

“Really?” Harry said, unsure.

“Yeah!” Louis said, sincerely. “Want me to get in the goal?”

Harry put his hands on his hips and cocked an eyebrow at Louis.

“Are you actually going to try to guard or are you just going to let me get it in to make me feel better?”

Louis stopped at this, because he was actually planning on doing the latter, but he now realized Harry wouldn’t want that.

“How dare you? What are you insinuating? I will try my very hardest to block your goal.”

This seemed to satisfy Harry enough to set the football back up in its position in front of the goal. 

“I’ll know if you do by the way.” 

Louis knew this was true, so as Harry ran up to the ball, he prepared himself for a dive.

Harry kicked the ball perfectly, and it went into the goal, just out of Louis’ reach. Louis had dove for it, so when he stood up and saw the ball in the net, he turned back to Harry. Harry was just standing there, like he couldn’t believe he really did it.

“You did it!” Louis said, launching himself at Harry.

Harry wasn’t expecting Louis to jump at him, like he had all those weeks ago at the airport. This meant that Harry wasn’t braced for the impact, and they both slammed down into the ground when Louis reached Harry.

Harry groaned as they reached the ground, because Louis had fallen flat on top of him and pinned him to the ground. Louis’ smile never faded, and he was beaming at Harry.

Harry’s pained expression faded, as he took Louis’ face in. He didn’t quite smile, though. His eyes were flitting to each and every part of Louis’ face. They lingered on Louis’ lips before snapping up to his eyes. As soon as Harry’s green eyes met Louis’ blue ones, Harry’s flung closed as he closed the gap between him and Louis.

Louis had no idea what he was expecting after he had tackled Harry, but a kiss was definitely not it.

It was a very simple peck, only a few seconds, but it stirred something deep in Louis’ stomach. He pulled away from Harry with wide eyes, and sat up.

“Um,” was all Louis could manage, before Harry’s eyes were widening like crazy and he was standing up, backing away.

“Shit,” Harry hissed. “Oh, fuck.” He said, running his hands through his hair. He was still backing away from Louis, and Louis was still sitting in the grass, his hand now brought up to his lips. 

“Harry,” Louis started, but Harry was shaking his head frantically.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” was all Harry said before he turned and ran, not bothering to organize his stuff before slinging his bag over his shoulder like he usually does. 

_What the fuck just happened?_ Louis thought to himself. _Did Harry just kiss me?_

Louis’ brain was going a mile a minute, and he really needed to talk to Harry. He should probably give him some time though, right? Harry looked so freaked out. Was it that much of a shock to kiss Louis? Was it bad? It was only a peck, how could it be bad?

Oh god. Louis needed to talk to Harry about this, or he would drown in his own thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost 1000 hits! Thank you all so much!
> 
> Only a few more chapters, and I'm not sure how I feel about it haha. I have ideas for more works though so hopefully I can get to those after this!
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed, and I should get the next chapter out asap:)


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry talks. Louis and Harry talk about it.

_Oh shit. What did I just do? What the fuck did I just do?_

Harry had no idea where he was going, he just got in his car and started driving. He didn’t realize he was heading somewhere specific until he was knocking on the door.

Liam opened it with a smile, instantly calming Harry a bit.

“Hey, H!” Liam’s smile faded as he took in Harry and the state he was in. He immediately turned serious as he said, “What’s wrong? What happened?” 

Harry couldn’t seem to catch his breath, and he looked around frantically as he ran his hands through his hair. 

“Is- is Zayn here?” Harry asked.

Liam shook his head before saying, “No, but he will be soon. Did you need him?”

Harry shook his head frantically before saying, “I don’t want him to see me right now, can we go to mine?”

Without question, Liam grabbed his keys and jacket and closed his door behind him. He wrapped Harry in a hug as he said, “Come on, let’s go.”

Harry loved Liam. Liam had deemed Harry unfit to drive in his panicked state, so he took Harry’s keys and drove them both to Harry and Louis’ flat. He kept his arm around Harry’s shoulders, holding him tight as he unlocked Harry’s door and brought them to the couch. Liam knew that Harry needed physical comfort when he was upset, so he immediately pulled Harry close as Harry let his head fall into Liam’s shoulder.

Liam didn’t press him to say anything, he just let Harry cry about it, without knowing what he was crying about.

Finally, Harry’s tears had mostly subdued and he caught his breath enough to pull away slightly from Liam.

Liam looked at him with kind eyes, and Harry took in a deep breath, preparing himself for the secret he’s about to spill.

“I kissed Louis.” Was all he said.

Liam nodded, and his kind smile faltered a bit, being replaced by a confused look.

“Okay?” Liam said, unsure of what that had to do with anything. “You’re in a relationship, that’s normal right?”

Harry just inhaled deeply before saying, “No, Liam.” Liam’s brow furrowed, leading Harry to say, “We’re not in a relationship.”

“Did you break up?” Liam said, clearly treading lightly in fear that Harry would start crying again.

Harry shook his head, and just said, “Please don’t judge us.” Liam just looked more confused, and it pushed Harry to say, “It was all fake, Liam.”

As much as Liam tried, he could not hide the way his mouth opened a bit with surprise. 

“What do you mean, fake?” 

Harry’s tears threatened to spill again as he prepared himself for the explanation he was about to give.

“Basically,” Harry starts, taking a deep breath. “Louis came up with the idea to ‘fake date’” he put air quotes around the phrase. “Because this girl Eleanor was hitting on him and he told her he had a boyfriend but it didn’t work because she just invited him and said boyfriend out for drinks so she could meet him.”

“Okay,” Liam said, nodding. “So, why wasn’t it just, like, a one day thing? Why stretch it out like this?”

A few of Harry’s tears spilled over, but he did his best to keep them in.

“Because Zayn,” Liam tensed a bit at the mention of his boyfriend’s name, “he was bugging Louis about finding a boyfriend, but Louis didn’t want to find a boyfriend, so he told Zayn he already had one.”

Liam seemed to be putting all the pieces together and he fell back to the back of the couch as Harry went on.

“And Zayn’s his best mate, so he obviously would ask to meet him. Louis just figured he could solve both of his problems at once. And I know everything about him, it should be easy. People already thought we looked like a couple.”

Liam remained silent, presumably taking this all in.

After a few moments, he sat up again, looking straight into Harry’s eyes.

“And,” he started, “How did you feel about all of this?”

Harry stiffened and looked down at his hands. He hadn’t really given it that much thought, really.

“Does it really matter?” Harry asked, still looking at his hands. “It’s his thing- it’s Louis’ problem. I’m just helping him out. That’s what any best friend would do.” He looks up and meets Liam’s eyes, before saying, “Right?”

Liam gave Harry sad eyes, as he said, “Of course it matters, Harry. I know it’s fake, but even a fake relationship should be 50/50, no?” Harry’s head hung down again, now looking at his hands. 

Liam thought back to when Louis had told all of them that he and Harry were in a relationship. Harry had looked shocked, Louis probably sprung it on him without asking first. He loved Louis, but he was a bit oblivious when it came to reading other people.

“Listen, H.” Liam started again, “Louis was wrong to put you in that position. He should have   
talked to you about it first.”

“But-” Harry started, but Liam wasn’t having it.

“I mean, how else would you have responded in that situation? It wasn’t fair of him.” Liam continued. Harry’s gaze had lifted back to Liam, tears filling his eyes.

Liam just pulled him close, into his chest and let Harry cry a bit more.

After a few moments, Liam’s curiosity got the best of him, and he asked, “So, what exactly happened? Just now, I mean.”

Harry straightened up and wiped his eyes with his sleeve.

“You know how he’s been saying he needs to get back into shape for football practices again,” Harry started and Liam nodded. “Yeah, so we were just kicking the ball around a bit, with Niall. And I guess you could say I’m not the most athletic person,” Harry and Liam both let out a short and breathy laugh at this. “So, I kind of just stayed off to the side while Niall and Louis played.”

Liam nodded slowly, waiting as Harry gathered his thoughts before continuing.

“Anyway, Ni left after about 2 hours, and it was just me and Lou. I hadn’t made a goal once in the two hours we were there, so Louis said he would teach me, and when I finally made it in the goal, Louis was so excited for me.” Harry was smiling, “He just looked so happy and he just ran at me and tackled me, and we fell onto the ground,” his smile started to fade as he continued to the next part of the story. “Then I fucked up. I don’t know, Li, I was just so caught up in the moment and he was so happy and I was so proud of myself for making him look so happy, so I just kissed him. He was laying on top of me and I just kissed him. And now I’ve fucked everything up because you should have seen his face, Liam.”

Liam took all of the information in before responding, “Harry, I’m sure you haven’t fucked everything up.”

“He was so _horrified,_ Li!” Harry’s head fell into his hands in shame.

“Oh, come on Haz. You know Louis. You know he would never do anything to hurt you. You two fit. I’m sure he wants to work it out just as much as you do.”

Harry nodded, clearly still unsure. His tears started to fall again, but he mostly had them under control.

“I can’t stay here with him, Li. At least not for today. What do I do?”

“I’m sure everything will work out, but you can always stay with me tonight. Zayn won’t ask, and I won’t tell if you don’t want me to.”

Harry smiled slightly, “Thanks, Li. I’ll probably take you up on that. But, I can’t ask you to keep this from Zayn. I know you guys tell each other everything.” Liam just shrugged, as if to say sorry. “Just hold off for a bit? At least until after I talk to Louis?”

Liam nodded, and pulled Harry into another comforting hug as he wiped the tears from his face.

“H?” Liam asked, still holding Harry tight.

“Mm,” Harry groaned into Liam’s chest.

“You really like him, don’t you?”

Harry just let out a sob, and it was all the answer Liam needed.

Just then, as if Harry’s tears had summoned him, Louis walked through the door.

“Harry? Are you here? Can we please talk?” He pleaded, clearly concerned. “Oh,” he said, after seeing Liam and Harry on the couch.

Louis looked tired. The moment his eyes locked on Harry, they widened as if he was realizing that it was his fault that Harry was crying.

Liam looked from Harry to Louis, taking notice of how Harry had started to cry even harder when he heard Louis’ voice as he entered the flat.

It all makes sense in that one moment: Harry doesn’t _like_ Louis. Harry is madly in _love_ with him. Liam finally understands why this has been so overwhelming for Harry, he understands why he has been acting weird. And looking at Louis, he can’t tell if the older boy feels the same way. He looks back at Harry and finally understands the pain he must be feeling.

Liam stands up from the couch, despite Harry’s grip tightening on his arm.

He looks back to Harry and whispers, “I think you two need to talk. Come find me after.”

In that moment, Harry is so grateful for Liam. He loosens his grip on his friend’s arm and gives him a nod, telling him he will come straight over after he talks with Louis.

Liam nods in return, and says goodbye to Louis as he exits the door, shutting it behind him.

Louis has no idea what just happened between Harry and Liam, but that’s not his number one concern right now. His top priority right now is figuring out why his best friend is crying and how to fix it. 

He sits down next to Harry, who scoots a little further away from him on the couch. Louis takes this as a sign to not reach out and wrap him in his arms like he usually does when Harry is sad.

“Haz? What happened? Why are you upset?”

Harry takes a moment to gather his thoughts, to calm himself down a bit. He takes a deep breath before saying, “Louis, I don’t think I can do this fake relationship thing anymore.”

Harry can’t seem to look up from his hands that are fidgeting in his lap, but he can tell by the silence that Louis is shocked.

“What? Why, what happened?” Louis asks, genuinely confused as to where this came from. “Is this about earlier? Because it wasn’t-”

“No.” Harry cuts him off immediately. “Listen, it was nice for a while, sure, but I don’t think either of us really thought it was going to go on for this long. I’m getting too comfortable with it,” Harry says quietly.

Louis isn’t sure what he means by that last part, but he brushes it off as he says, “Harry I’m not sure I understand, are you trying to break up with me?”

Harry takes a deep breath in before saying, “Yeah, I am.”

That hits Louis like a ton of bricks, and he’s not sure why. Why should he care this much if Harry wanted to break up? Did this even really qualify as a break up? They weren’t really dating. 

“But, why?” Louis starts, he has no idea where this is coming from, “Did I do something?”

“No, no, of course not. It’s just-” Harry quickly responds, “I don’t know, I just don’t think it’s a good idea for us to carry on like this.”

Harry finally looks up to meet Louis’ eyes and all he sees is confusion. Louis doesn’t get it. Harry thought it was obvious, and he was hoping that Louis might at least feel the same way, even just a little bit. The moment that Harry’s tear-filled green eyes meet Louis’ beautiful blue ones, Harry sees that Louis doesn’t feel the same way he does. Immediately, he feels a wave of shame and embarrassment flood over him, and he needs to leave.

_Holy shit what did I just do?_ Harry thinks to himself.

He shoots up from the couch and rushes to the door, silently scolding himself for being so stupid. He has his hand on the knob when Louis shouts at him, “Wait! Harry, I don’t understand what’s happening? Where are you going?”

“I need to leave Louis. I can’t be here, it's too painful.”

“What? Painful? Why? Harry what’s going on?” Louis says a bit more frantically, because now he’s really confused.

“I love you, Louis.”

“Yeah, and I love you too, Harry.” Louis says automatically, not getting what Harry means, and definitely not noticing how Harry’s face darkened and a wave of sadness hit him. “I don’t understand, what’s going on?”

“You don’t get it, do you?”

“Don’t get _what,_ Harry? Can you just sit down and tell me what’s going on?”

Harry finally lets his tears flow again, and he’s now fighting back the flood that’s begging to be released. 

“I broke the rules, Louis.”

“What? What rules? Can you please just sit down?” Louis begs.

“No, I can’t.” Harry says, hand still on the door knob, ready to leave at any second. “I broke the rules, Louis. The rules we set in the beginning.”

Louis had forgotten about those, but immediately remembers when Harry brings them up. He is still confused, and he asks, “The rules? Harry, those rules were mostly a joke weren’t they? I mean, they were pretty unspoken there wasn’t a need to write them down,” Louis jokes with that last part to try and ease the tension that had built up in the room.

“No, Louis.” Harry takes a deep breath before continuing, “I told Liam.”

This catches Louis off guard, “You- you what?”

“I told Liam everything. I’m sorry, I just was so overwhelmed with everything, and I needed to get it off of my chest and to talk to someone who wasn’t you about it. And I know we said we weren’t going to tell anyone, but I just needed to say _something_ because my head is swimming with a million thoughts and I needed to get them all out.” Harry is sobbing at this point, unsure if Louis can even understand him.

“I’m sorry, Louis. I just needed to tell someone because I have been feeling this weight on my shoulders for months now, and the relief I just felt from telling Liam? It was amazing. And I understand if you’re mad at me, but I just needed to say something and- and I don’t think I can do this thing with you anymore. It’s causing me so much stress and I’m constantly worrying-”

“Harry!” Louis shouts, cutting him off, “Why didn’t you tell me you were feeling like this? I’m not angry at you, I just don’t understand. I mean, I am a little upset because we had promised each other we weren’t going to say anything. I understand you felt like you needed to get things off your chest, but I don’t understand why you’ve been feeling so stressed. And why do you want to break up, I just- I don’t understand!”

“Because I’m in love with you, you fucking idiot!” Harry shouts.

_Holy shit._ Harry thinks. He just said that.

The room is dead silent as Harry’s words sink in.

Harry needs to leave. He needs to talk to Liam right now. He needs to get out of here. What did he just do?

“Harry-”

“Don’t.” Harry starts, “Don’t you get it? I can’t be in this fake relationship with you Lou. And now I’ve lied to you about it too which means I’ve actually broken all the rules. Louis, I just- I can’t. It’s too painful.”

Harry opens the door and steps out. When it shuts behind him, he falls back onto it and sinks to the floor, letting his tears overcome him.

Inside, Louis is speechless. Harry is in love with him? Why didn’t he figure that out himself?

And now, if Liam knows, it’s only a matter of time before Zayn knows.

Louis needs to talk to Zayn. He shoots his friend a quick text, asking if he can come over. Zayn responds quickly, saying that he’s not at Liam’s, so he should come over to his instead.

Louis figures that this means Zayn doesn’t know yet. He breathes out a sigh of relief, he can tell Zayn himself. He didn’t want Zayn to find out from someone else, so he responds: _Perfect. Be there soon._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only a two chapters left!!!!
> 
> And 1000 Hits!!! Thank you all so much every one of you is amazing!
> 
> I'm so happy it seems like you're enjoying it!
> 
> Hopefully I'll get the next two chapters written pretty quickly, so fingers crossed!


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Louis tells Zayn. Louis celebrates his birthday.

“Zayn!” Louis shouts as he knocks on his best friend’s door.

Zayn opens it, smiling. His smile falls immediately as he sees the state his friend is in.

“Lou? What happened? Is everything okay?”

Louis shakes his head, saying, “No, Zayn. It’s not everything is fucked, I fucked everything up. How could I be so _stupid?_ ”

“Woah, Lou. Calm down. Come on, come in” Zayn says calmingly, leading Louis into the flat and bringing him over to the couch.

“So, tell me what happened.”

“Harry told me he loved me.”

Zayn’s eyes widened, and he beamed at Louis. “That’s great!” As he waited he took Louis' face in and said, “right?”

Louis just sighed, and explained the whole situation, in the same way he assumed Harry did to Liam.

“Oh, Louis, you idiot!” Zayn says suddenly, shocking Louis.

“What?” Louis says incredulously. 

“I can’t believe you.”

“Oh, come on it’s not that bad really.”

“Really?” Zayn says, “Look at the state you’re in Louis. Look at the state your friendship with Harry is in. You’ve watched enough rom coms with Harry to know how this was going to end.”

Louis stopped at this, shaking his head, “No. There’s no way, it’s not-”

“Lou,” Zayn says, voice a little calmer now. “You know I was just joking with you about always finding a boyfriend.”

Louis’ head snaps to Zayn’s saying, “No! How was I supposed to know that?”

Zayn gives Louis a look of disbelief as he shakes his head fondly. “We’re best friends Louis. I would assume that you know me by now. I would never have forced somebody onto you, and you know that.”

Louis lets his head fall into his hands, letting himself finally realize that Zayn is right. “Why am I such an idiot?”

Zayn laughs a bit and says, “You’re not an idiot Louis. You just don’t realize things as they happen to you. Let’s call it… slow.”

Louis shoves Zayn’s shoulder as they both laugh a bit.

“Prick.”

“You love me.”

Louis stops at this, because ‘love’. That’s what Harry had just told him. Louis knew there were different kinds of love, one you felt for your friends and family, and the other. He also knew that he didn’t love Harry in the same way he loved Zayn, but he couldn’t quite explain it just yet. He’ll work on it.

“You know I do.” Louis said, causing Zayn to smile.

They paused for a moment, Louis falling into Zayn’s arms. He pulled away as he took his phone out.

“Who are you calling?” Zayn asked, but Louis just flicked his hand to silence him.

Liam picked up after three rings, and Louis felt his heart rate picking up speed.

“Where is he?” Louis said immediately.

Liam just sighed on the other side of the line before saying, “He’s fine. He’s with me.”

Louis let out a sigh of relief. He was going to ask if he could come over, but Liam beat him to it. 

“Just give him a few days, Louis.”

“Li-”

“Louis, you have to. He needs it right now.”

Louis sighed and finally said, “Fine. You’re right. Tell him he can come back whenever he feels ready.”

“Of course, bye Louis.”

“Bye.” Louis said as he hung up. He put the phone in his lap and fell back against the couch as he let out a frustrated groan.

“Was that Liam?” Zayn asked Louis, confused.

“Yeah, he’s with Harry. Harry told him everything.”

“So that’s why I couldn’t come over today.”

They both let out a short laugh, before Louis gave a sad and exhausted, “Yeah.”

:::

It’s a few days later, December 24th. Christmas Eve and Louis’ birthday.

Harry still hasn’t come home, and Louis is starting to understand why Harry hates being alone in the flat when Louis is away.

Louis didn’t have a single thing planned for his birthday, because it was Christmas Eve. Liam and Zayn were probably going on a date, and Niall likes to get trashed at a party every Christmas Eve.

Louis doesn’t really feel like third wheeling or getting piss drunk at the moment.

Christmas Eve was always something him and Harry shared, so that was a bit of a downer today.

Louis called his mum, and spoke to all his siblings, who wished him a happy birthday. He promised them he would visit as soon as he could, and he would bring their Christmas presents with him.

The call helped a little, making him busy for about an hour.

Louis finally ended up calling Stan, who was more than happy to hear from him. Louis had figured that Stan would be doing something with his girlfriend, but it turned out that she was away visiting family. Stan invited him to come over, saying they could order a pizza and play some video games or something. 

That sounded perfect to Louis, and he ended up wasting hours and hours at Stan’s house. He finally gets home around 11:00 pm, where he has a few nice birthday messages waiting for him.

He pulls out his phone and sees one from Niall a few hours ago, and two from Zayn and Liam around the same time. The one that makes him stop is the one from Harry.

It had been delivered four hours ago, while Louis was with Stan. It read:

_Happy birthday Lou. I know it’s something we always spend together, and I’m sorry for that. I’m also sorry I didn’t get you anything this year, but I hope you had a great day. xx H._

And- no. That wasn’t it. That wasn’t enough. He needed to see Harry right now.

Date night be damned, Louis immediately picked up his phone and called Liam.

“ _Please,_ Liam where is he?”

Liam just sighed and told Louis that Harry was at Niall’s.

:::

Louis knocks on Niall’s door in a panic.

The door bursts open to reveal Niall. This time though, there is no smile present on his face like there usually is. He looks angry, more angry than Louis has ever seen him before. 

“What do you want?” Niall spits out angrily, stepping outside of his flat and closing the door behind him. 

Louis is taken aback by this, he’s never seen Niall so angry.

Niall just scoffs at the lack of response from Louis and says, “Fuck you, Tomlinson.”

Louis feels his heart drop to his feet, Niall has never been this angry at _him_ before. He looks at Niall, who is standing with his arms crossed over his chest and a death glare on his face.

Liam had said that Harry was here, so Louis assumed that Harry was behind that door, and had just told Niall what had gone down between the two of them. Louis came to an understanding and started to try and explain himself to Niall.

“Ni-” was all Louis could get in before Niall was speaking again.

“No, Louis. You hurt him. He told you he was in _love_ with you and you just stood there. Silently! Saying nothing! Can you imagine how that could possibly feel right now?”

Louis flinches at the loudness of Niall’s voice. 

“Please, Niall. Can I just talk to him?”

“You in love with him?”

“W-What?” Louis says, caught off guard by Niall’s bluntness.

Niall nods, a stern look present on his face. “Fine. Then no, Louis. You can’t talk to him.”

Louis’ face falls, and he’s about to beg, but Niall speaks first, saying:

“God, Louis. You’re such a fucking idiot sometimes, mate.”

This hurts, and Louis can’t help but begin to think it’s true because that’s the second time he’s been called an idiot in the past hour.

“I know,” Louis groans, as he rubs his hands down his face, exhausted.

Niall’s angry look falters, and he opens the door.

“He’s not here.” Niall says, making Louis’ head shoot up out of his hands.

“What?”

“Harry. He’s not here. He said he wanted some space.”

“Niall. Where is he? _Please. _” Louis begs, hoping that someone will tell Louis where Harry is so they can work this out.__

__Niall just shakes his head and pats the couch cushion next to him, gesturing for Louis to sit. Louis walks into the flat and closes the door behind him, before plopping down on the couch beside Niall._ _

__“You really don’t see it do you?” Niall asks Louis, his voice softer and less angry now._ _

__“See what?” Louis asks, his voice lined with exhaustion._ _

__Niall just shakes his head, a mix of amusement and sadness written on his face._ _

__“You really couldn’t tell that he was gone for you?” Niall takes Louis’ silence as an answer, and continues on. “If you really didn’t know, and if you don’t feel even a _hint_ of the same way Harry feels about you, then you’re just cruel.”_ _

__“What?” Louis asks, because why would Niall say that?_ _

__“Louis, you’ve been acting like a couple for months. And don’t just tell me it’s because of this ‘fake relationship’,” He puts air quotes around the term “because I know that’s bullshit. I’ve known that Harry’s been in love with you for a while now, and I’m pretty sure Zayn and Liam have known it too. You’re the only one who can’t see it mate.”_ _

__Louis looks away from Niall, eyes focusing on the rug beneath the coffee table. Niall continues on however, saying:_ _

__“You are the only one who couldn’t see that Harry’s in love with you. How could that be?”_ _

__Louis covers his mouth with his hand as he turns back to Niall. “Ni. He’s said I love you before. And I just- I just said it back, you know? Like I thought he was saying it in a friendly way, because we’ve been best friends for so long, I don’t know. Oh, _god!_ ” Louis finally says, throwing his head forward, into his hands. “I really am an idiot.”_ _

__Niall puts a hand on Louis’ back, reassuringly before saying, “Yeah.”_ _

__“Fuck.” Was all Louis could manage._ _

__Niall pulls back and leans back on the couch, looking like he’s weighing the pros and cons of a decision he’s about to make._ _

__Louis turns to look at him, saying, “What? What is it?”_ _

__Niall finally meets Louis’ eyes, and seems to make his decision right then and there. He sighs before saying, “That room” He gestures to a room behind him and Louis. “Was where I was letting Harry stay.” Louis cringes at the fact that Harry had been staying anywhere other than in Louis’ bed with Louis._ _

__“Go in there, and open the laptop.” Louis looked at Niall, confused now._ _

__“His laptop? Why?” Louis asked, brow furrowing as he tried to figure out why Niall was telling him to go through Harry’s stuff._ _

__“Just do it.” Niall says, “Open it and click on the recording on his desktop labeled ‘L’s birthday’.”_ _

__Louis’ eyes widen. “My-my birthday? But Harry said-”_ _

__“I know what he said. It wasn’t true. Just go and do it, would you? I’m tired of this drama.”_ _

__Louis nods slowly and gets up to walk towards Harry’s room. He hesitates at the door, because he’s still not sure if he’s comfortable going through Harry’s things. He shakes that feeling off and pushes the door open._ _

__Louis can’t help but feel his heart swoop when he sees his own shirt on the bed next to the computer. He picks it up smiling, and sits down on the bed. He opens the laptop and clicks on the recording, just like Niall said._ _

___“Hi, Lou.”_ Harry’s voice starts on the recording._ _

__Louis can’t help but let out a sob, because it’s only been a few days, but he misses Harry so goddamn much._ _

___“So, it’s your birthday, and I just felt like this year it had to be something different than usual, because of all the shit we’ve done together.”_ Harry lets out a laugh, and Louis can’t help but let a laugh out as well. Harry sounds so happy, and he wonders when Harry recorded this._ _

___“So, happy birthday Lou. You’re the best person I have ever met, and probably the most important person in my life.”_ _ _

__Louis tries to stop his sobs from escaping again, putting a hand over his mouth._ _

__There is a pause in the recording, and Louis’ brow furrows, thinking it’s over. He’s about to replay it when he hears the signature single strum of a chord that Harry always does before he plays._ _

__Louis gasps, and finally lets out his full sobs as he realizes that Harry is singing for him. Harry knows that him singing is one of Louis’ favorite things in the world, and therefore it makes the perfect gift._ _

__Harry’s voice brings Louis’ attention back, and quiets his sobs a bit._ _

__

___“Sweet creature_ _ _

___Had another talk about where it's going wrong_ _ _

___But we're still young_ _ _

___We don't know where we're going_ _ _

___But we know where we belong”_ _ _

__

__It’s absolutely beautiful. Louis doesn’t recognize it, so he assumes it’s one of Harry’s originals. That just makes this ten times better._ _

__

___“And oh we started_ _ _

___Two hearts in one home_ _ _

___It's hard when we argue_ _ _

___We're both stubborn_ _ _

___I know, but oh”_ _ _

__

__And- _oh._ It is one of Harry’s original songs. But, it’s about Louis. This time, there’s no denying that fact. ‘Two hearts in one home’? That was them. They shared a flat, and have for years. Harry’s never lived with anyone else._ _

__Louis takes this in as Harry’s beautifully smooth and deep voice continues._ _

__

___“Sweet creature, sweet creature_ _ _

___Wherever I go, you bring me home_ _ _

___Sweet creature, sweet creature_ _ _

___When I run out of road, you bring me home”_ _ _

__

__Louis lets his tears fall, as he realizes that Harry is his home too. He’s never felt more at home than he has with Harry._ _

__

___“Sweet creature_ _ _

___We're running through the garden_ _ _

___Oh, where nothing bothered us_ _ _

___But we're still young_ _ _

___I always think about you and how we don't speak enough”_ _ _

__

__Louis’ heart twists a bit, because he knows how hard it is for Harry when he goes on his week-long travels with the team._ _

__

___“And oh we started_ _ _

___Two hearts in one home_ _ _

___I know, it's hard when we argue_ _ _

___We're both stubborn_ _ _

___I know, but oh_ _ _

___Sweet creature, sweet creature_ _ _

___Wherever I go, you bring me home_ _ _

___Sweet creature, sweet creature_ _ _

___When I run out of road, you bring me home_ _ _

___I know when we started_ _ _

___Just two hearts in one home_ _ _

___It gets harder when we argue_ _ _

___We're both stubborn_ _ _

___I know, but oh_ _ _

___Sweet creature, sweet creature_ _ _

___Wherever I go, you bring me home_ _ _

___Sweet creature, sweet creature_ _ _

___When I run out of road, you bring me home_ _ _

___You'll bring me home”_ _ _

__

__Louis lets Harry’s voice end the song, with one final strum on his guitar. He lets himself lie down in the bed, as Harry speaks out a final send off message:_ _

___“Happy birthday, Lou. I hope you have the best day ever because you deserve it. You’re everything.”_ _ _

__Everything._ _

__Harry just said Louis was his everything._ _

__Louis sits up, eyes wide, as he realizes:_ _

__Harry is his everything too._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UM over 50 kudos and 1000 hits? You're all amazing! Thank you so so much!
> 
> Sadly, there's only one chapter left after this one and I'm having mixed feelings about it. Hopefully I'll get the next and final chapter out soon, because it's a long weekend haha.
> 
> Also, I have no idea why, but the italics stopped working towards the end of the chapter. If anyone has any idea why, lmk!
> 
> KK, that's it love you all<3


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Louis figures it out. Christmas Day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it! The final chapter!!!
> 
> It's a bit shorter, but I think it's got everything you'll want.
> 
> Thank you all so much for reading, and I hope you all enjoyed it:)
> 
> I kind of have mixed feelings about it being done, but I think I'm mostly excited for you all to read it!
> 
> You're all amazing byeeee

Harry is his everything.

Louis _needs_ Harry.

Once he came to that realization, everything came falling into place. 

Louis loved Harry.

Louis was in love with Harry.

He was utterly and completely in love with Harry.

And this wasn’t some blind attraction to the best friend he had been fake dating the past few months, because he had already thought of that. He had thought of that weeks ago.

No, this was love. And Louis loved Harry.

Harry loved Louis and Louis loved Harry.

How could he have been so blind? It was right in front of him for so long. 

Louis had no idea how this had managed to go unnoticed, but he for sure knew one thing. He had to get out of this bed right now and go and find the man he’s in love with.

Louis pushes himself off the bed and stomps towards the door, not even bothering to wipe away his tears and fix his hair.

Niall looked up at Louis from his spot on the couch, and his eyes grew wide when they took in Louis’ disheveled state. 

“Everything alright?” Niall asked cautiously.

Louis looked at him and wondered if he had listened to Harry’s song. They did share lyrics often. And Niall was teaching Harry guitar.

“Did you listen to that?” Louis asks, voice breaking from the tears, pointing back towards the room he had just left.

Niall nods slowly, trying to read Louis’ expression.

“Where is he?” Louis asks immediately.

“Louis-” Niall starts, but Louis _will not_ have it. He needs to see Harry right this instant.

“Niall James Horan, if you don’t tell me where he is I swear to God-” Louis starts, clearly exasperated.

“Louis, he just wanted to be alone right now. Just let him have that?”

“No!” Louis shouts, “I need to talk to him. Niall, _please?”_ Louis is not above begging, and he prepares himself for it.

“Give me one good reason I should tell you where he is.” Niall crosses his arms over his chest.

He wasn’t in the room with Louis when Louis had come to his realization, so he doesn’t expect the answer that now comes so easily to Louis.

“Because I’m in love with him. And I need to tell him. I would also prefer to do it right now, because I might die if I don’t?” Louis says very fast.

Niall’s stern face immediately breaks and he morphs into the overjoyed Niall that Louis knows and loves.

“No fucking way! _Mate!_ This is huge!” Niall exclaims, jumping up to wrap Louis in a massive hug. 

“Yes, yes. I didn’t much fancy telling you before Harry, but hurry up and tell me where he is.” Louis says, brushing the jumping Irishman off of him, laughing.

“Oh, yeah of course.” Niall says, composing himself a bit. “He’s at the football pitch.”

Louis cringes a bit. He should have known Harry would go back there.

He sets off to leave, leaving Niall’s shouts of good luck behind him.

The second he gets out the door of Niall’s flat, he is hit with a gust of cold air. He wraps his arms around himself for warmth, hoping Harry is warm.

It’s late now, after 11:00, and it’s dark and cold. Louis just hopes Harry is okay when he gets to him.

As he makes his way over to the pitch, (in all the excitement, Louis had decided to walk, which he was now regretting) he goes over the past few days in his head.

How Harry had kissed him on the football field and how he had done nothing. He was still hitting himself for that one. 

He and Harry had been through everything together, and if Louis was being completely honest with himself, he’s probably been in love with Harry for quite some time now. 

_Holy shit._ Louis thought to himself. He loved Harry. He _loved_ Harry. And Harry thought he didn’t even feel the same way in the slightest. He had been avoiding Louis.

Oh god, why was Louis so stupid?

By the time Louis had managed to reach the park, he was crying again, and looking around frantically. He spots the white frames of the goals on the field in the distance. 

“Harry?” Louis shouts, tears still in his eyes. If he does not find this man right this second and tell him he’s in love with him, he might explode.

He finally sees Harry, sitting on the ground with his back against the goal post.

“Harry!” Louis shouts, breaking into a run, crying a bit harder.

Harry’s head snaps to Louis, and he immediately stands up, bringing himself to Louis.

“Louis? What’s wrong, why are you crying? What happened?” Harry asks, sounding extremely worried, his brow furrowing.

And goddamn Harry Styles. 

Because, of course the first thing Harry asks Louis is if he is alright. Of _course_ it is. Louis had been the one to make him cry, and believe he’s not in love with him, and yet Harry is the one asking Louis if he is okay.

Louis can’t think of anything to say, so he just does the one thing he wants to do at that moment. He kisses Harry. He grabs the back of Harry’s neck, and slams their lips together. He feels Harry’s body stiffen with shock, before he relaxes and kisses back, wrapping his arms around Louis’ waist.

After a few minutes, they pull apart, still holding each other. Louis is beaming, and Harry is gasping, still unsure of what just happened.

“But, I thought-” Harry starts.

“Haz, I am in love with you.” Louis finally says. 

“You’re- You what?” Harry says in disbelief, his eyes widening and smile growing.

“Goddammit, Harry. I am so sorry it has taken me so long to figure it out, but it’s you. I have been in love with you for a while if I’m being honest with myself. I was just so _scared_ of what that meant, because I haven’t been in love with someone or dated someone in so long. Even then, I don’t think I have ever really felt love, because if this is what love feels like, then _fuck,_ I have never been in love. I have literally never felt anything like this for anyone before, and that scares me a bit. You just- you seemed so _sure,_ like you just knew how you felt. And I guess I’m just sorry that it took me so long and I’m sorry that I’ve been a clueless arsehole these past few days.” This gets a small laugh out of Harry, who is also crying now. “I just- I just love you _so much._ Like, it literally hurts how much I love you! I am in physical pain, Harry!” They are both laughing now, both crying happy tears. “Look what you’ve done to me!” Louis puts his forehead against Harry’s and ends his speech with a whisper of: “Fuck, I am so in love with you.”

Harry brings his hands up to cup Louis’ cheeks, as they beam at each other. 

“I love you so much.” Harry says quietly, his hands on Louis’ cheeks and his forehead against Louis’.

“I love you too.” Louis says back.

“Oh my god, this is crazy!” Harry says, practically jumping with joy. He suddenly thinks of something, which makes him stop. “Not that I’m complaining,” he starts, “like, _at all,”_ Louis laughs, “But, where did this come from?”

Right. This was the part where he tells Harry he kind of maybe went through his stuff at Niall’s.

“I, _maybe,_ might have found your song?” Louis says, as if it were a question.

“My- you found my song? The one I wrote for you?”

Louis just nods in Harry’s hands, smiling.

“What did- What did you think?”

“Haz, I loved it.” Harry breathes out a sigh of relief as Louis begins, “It was amazing. It’s quite possibly the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me. And _fuck,_ I love you so much! And it feels so good to finally say that.”

“You know what else feels pretty good?” Harry starts, moving his hands from Louis’ face back to his waist, bringing him in tighter.

“You’re naughty, Styles.” Louis teases, as he wraps his arms around Harry’s neck and brings their lips together. 

They only pull apart when Harry’s watch beeps, indicating that it is midnight.

Louis smiles up at Harry, and says, “Merry Christmas, love.”

 _Love._ There was a new weight to that word now.

Harry was beaming as he said, “Merry Christmas.” Before bringing Louis back in for another kiss.

:::

Louis blindly searched for the doorknob to get the door to their flat open as soon as possible. His hands were currently occupied, tangling themselves in Harry’s curls.

Having no success with the door, Louis let out a loud groan of frustration and turned around in Harry’s arms to open it. Harry wrapped his arms around Louis’ waist and started kissing his neck.

“Haz,” Louis said quietly as he closed his eyes to the gentle touch of Harry’s lips on his neck. “I need to open this door, stop distracting me.”

Harry stepped away from Louis and put his hands behind his back. Once Louis got the door open, he turned around in the open door frame and took in the sight of Harry. He was standing, feet together and hands clasped behind his back. He wore an innocent look on his face, except for the slight smirk played on his lips.

Louis rolled his eyes fondly and said, “Oh, come on.”

Harry broke out into a smile as he bounded at Louis and picked him up in his arms. Louis grabbed the back of Harry’s neck and kissed him. If Louis knew that _this_ was what he had been missing, he might have figured his shit out sooner. Harry was an amazing kisser. 

That night, Louis had fallen asleep next to the boy he loved, and slept better than he had in days.

:::

“Styles!” Louis shouted, running after Harry down the hallway from their bedroom.

He finally caught up to Harry, who was holding an opened whipped cream can in his right hand, as he opened the front door with his left.

Harry had woken Louis up from his nap by putting a swirl of whipped cream on his hand. This, of course, led to Louis having whipped cream on his face, and therefore the reason he was chasing Harry around their flat.

Louis was about to tackle Harry when he spotted the two people in the doorway. He immediately smiled as he greeted them, “Zaynie! Payno!”

He launched himself into Zayn’s arms in a tight hug. Liam was laughing next to them as Zayn staggered back a bit. 

“Merry Christmas, you two.” Liam said, smiling at Louis in Zayn’s arms before turning to Harry and giving him a knowing look.

Harry’s smile just grew as he wrapped Liam in a hug. 

Harry and Louis had done a lot of talking in the hours between the football field and now. Of course, they did other things too, but that’s not important. Harry had told Louis all about talking to Liam and when he was staying with him and then Niall. Louis felt awful about the whole situation, but Harry repeatedly assured him it was okay, because they ended up together anyway.

Louis eventually let go of Zayn and naturally gravitated towards Harry’s side. The four of them sat on the couch, with Harry curled up against Louis and Zayn doodling once again on Liam’s arm.

About twenty minutes later, and without knocking, Niall bursts in with a loud greeting to them all.

“Merry Christmas, boys!” He bellowed, putting wide smiles on everyone’s faces. Niall took in the sight of the two couples on the couch and groaned, “Fuck no. I refuse to be a fifth wheel.”

“Mate,” Liam began, “You kind of already were one for a few months.”

Zayn chuckles and Niall shrugs, “True. But if I do not receive a single cuddle tonight, I will not- and I mean _not_ be happy.”

Harry immediately knows what Louis is about to do, so he sits up off of Louis’ chest without even having to be asked. Louis shoots a smile and wink to his boyfriend before getting up and jumping on Niall.

“Ni! We love you!” Louis shouted, wrapping his legs around Niall’s waist.

Niall lets out a loud laugh as Zayn reaches out to pull the hood of Niall’s sweatshirt, making them fall onto the couch. This ends with a dog pile, with Niall getting hugged from every direction.

“Merry Christmas, you wankers.” Niall laughs out.

“We love you Ni!” Liam shouts out, with the others chiming in with shouts of agreement.

Louis loves each and every one of them.

Later that night, after they’d all exchanged gifts and had plenty of laughs and drinks, Harry and Louis shut the door behind their friends as they left.

Louis leaned against it and let out a breath. He looked at Harry, standing across him and a smile grew on his lips.

“Hey,” he said.

Harry smiled back in return. “Hi.”

“Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?”

Harry’s eyes glisten with the compliment and his smile grows bigger. He brings his hand up to his chin and fakes a contemplative expression. “Hm, I don’t think you have, actually.”

Louis’ smile is far from leaving his face as he says, “Well then.” He pushes off the door and walks towards Harry, wrapping his arms around Harry’s neck. “You are the most beautiful person I have ever laid eyes on.”

Harry all but swoons as he says, “I love you.”

Louis’ smile grows as he says, “I love you too.”

Harry wraps his arms around Louis’ waist and pulls him in for a tight hug. They sway in their spot for a bit to the light Christmas music on the television. Louis lets his eyes close as he rests his head on Harry’s shoulder, with Harry doing the same to him.

“Hey, Haz.”

“Mm?” Is all Harry responds, his head still on Louis’ shoulder.

“We’re dancing.” Louis finishes his thought.

Louis feels Harry’s smile against his shoulder before he sees it as Harry pulls away to look into Louis’ eyes.

And there it is again.

Whenever Harry locks his emerald green eyes to Louis’ ocean blue ones, Louis gets those same butterflies he did all those weeks ago.

“Merry Christmas, Lou.” Harry says, leaning his forehead against Louis’.

“Merry, Christmas, love.” Louis says, closing the distance between their lips.

Harry pulls him tighter as he says, “Best Christmas ever.”

Louis lets out a small laugh, before bringing their lips together again in a tender and sweet kiss. Louis couldn’t help but think about how right Harry truly was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that was Even the Stars Wouldn't Listen!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed my first fic!
> 
> I have a lot of ideas, so hopefully I'll get more work out soon:)
> 
> Thank you all so so sooo much for reading, love you all!

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing anything like this, so I hope you enjoy!


End file.
